Chayote/Chow Chow skin thogayal

I strongly believe in the saying "It's FUN to have Food but it's SIN to waste Food". Even from a cook's perspective its really painful to see the food we prepare putting so much effort to get wasted. But in practical day to day life we can't always make the exact quantity of any dish. Also sometimes we discard some edible parts unknowingly. Hence I decided to start posting some "left over recipes".My mom always says the skin of any vegetable is highly nutritious. This thogayal I learnt from her.It goes very well with idly dosas or as side dish for curd rice. Tastes great even when mixed with plain hot rice paired with any curry. Sharing the recipe and I hope readers find it usefull too!

Chow Chow skin Thogayal

Cuisine: Indian Category: Side dish Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: -- Cook time: 10 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients Chow chow or Chayote skin From 1 big Chow Chow Grated coconut 2-3 Tsp Urad dal 3 Tsp flat Asafetida A generous pinch Dry Red Chili 6 Tamarind A small pinch Salt 1/2 Tsp flat Oil 1-2 Tsp To Temper Oil 1 Tsp Mustard 1/4 Tsp Urad dal 1/4 Tsp

Method             1.     Peel the skin of Chow chow and assemble all the ingredients. In pan add oil and roast the urad dal along with red chili, tamarind asafetida and grated coconut for few minutes. Once the dal is roasted well switch off and cool down the ingredients.      2.     Roast the chow chow skin with little oil for few minutes. The skin tend to get bit dark and start browning at the edges. Cool down and add all the roasted ingredients along with salt to the mixer. Grind to a thick paste by adding water little by little.      3.Temper with ingredients mentioned. Serve with rice or idly/dosas!!                                         Notes

·         Compound asafetida is highly recommended for thogayal. If you use powdered asafetida add it lastly after roasting other ingredients.      ·         Black urad dal with skin also adds great flavour. In case of non availability you can use ordinary urad dal too.       ·         Adjust spice according to your preferance.      ·         Tempering is optional and since we added Asafetida while roasting I didn't add while tempering.      ·         Fresh skin works best. I usually make kootu/ poriyal and make this thogayal evening for dosas.

I personally love it lot along with godumai dosai or rava dosai :).

Cheppankizhangu Varuval- Arbi roast

Arbi roast is an easy yet yummy sabji which goes well with any kuzhambu or rasam. It tastes great with variety rice too. This is a crispy shallow fry which tastes best when served hot. Hence its apt to enjoy this on a weekend. There can be many variations in cooking this kizhangu. I am posting my version hope you all like it too :). 

Arbi roast

Cuisine: Indian Category: Side dish Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook time: 15 mins Servings: 3-4

Ingredients Cheppan kizhangu 250g Salt 1/2 Tsp Turmeric A Small pinch Chili Powder  1 Tsp To Temper Oil 2 Tbsp Mustard 1/2 Tsp Urad dal 1/2 Tsp Asafetida A big pinch Curry leaves 1 spring Preparation      1.     Wash the arbi fry and remove dirts. Pressure cook without adding water for 3-4 whistles. Peel the skin and chop each kizhangu into 2-3 pieces as shown.

Method             1.     In pressure pan add 1 Tbsp oil and once it gets heated temper the ingredients mentioned. Simmer the flame and add the cooked kizhangu along with turmeric, salt and chili powder.      2.     Mix everything well and keep roasting in medium flame for few minutes. Add remaining oil and cook till the kizhangu becomes crisp.       3.     Serve hot with sambhar!!

Notes       ·         Do not add water while cooking the arbi. If you add it will become mushy.      ·         Make sure you simmer the flame before adding chili powder to avoid choking. Always cook in medium flame to get best results for this dish.      ·         Do not stir often. Just ensure the chli powder is mixed well and let the arbi get roasted by itself.

Yummy cheppankizhangu is ready to be served :)!!! 

Keerai Kootu

I wanted to post some tam brahm recipe this time. Since kootu is an integral part of our cuisine decided to post the same! What I personally like about kootu is it needs very less oil and it gives lot of volume. Usually siru keerai, thandu keerai, ponnanganni keerai, murugai keerai, manathakkali keerai and karisilanganni keerai tastes great for this kootu so you can use any of them. We love to pair it with Vendhaya kuzhambu or vathal kuzhambu. But it tastes good even with simple rasam or plain rice topped with little ghee!! Lets see how to make this easy, yummy and healthy kootu :). 

Keerai kootu

Cuisine: Indian Category: Side dish Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: 20 mins Cook time: 10 mins Servings:  4

Ingredients Spinach 1 small bunch Moong dal 1/4 cup Salt 1/2 Tsp Turmeric 1/4 Tsp Sugar 1/4 Tsp Grated Coconut 4-5 Tsp Dry red chili 4 Jeera 1 Tsp To temper Coconut Oil 1 Tsp Mustard 1/2 Tsp Urad dal 1/2 Tsp Channa dal 1/2 Tsp Asafetida A small pinch

Preparation      1.     Pressure cook the moong dal by adding water in 1:1 ratio for 4 whistles. In the mean time chop the spinach finely. Grind the coconut, red chili and jeera into a smooth paste by adding little water.   Method

1.     Cook spinach by adding 1/4 tsp salt along with turmeric and sugar. Add 1/4 cup water and cook till the spinach shrinks. Add the mashed dal and mix well.      2.     Add the ground paste along with 1/2 tsp salt and mix. Cook for few minutes till the kootu thickens. Temper with the ingredients mentioned.      3.     Serve as an accompaniment for rice ! Notes       ·         Add little water while cooking spinach. If you find the kootu getting too thick you can add  some more water later.       ·         Adjust amount of chili according to your spice level. You can use pepper instead of chili too but the taste will differ accordingly.         ·         Coconut oil is recommended for any kootu but if you don't have you can use other oil too.       ·         I don't usually add curry leaves or coriander leaves to any spinach based gravy. If you like you can add.

Enjoy the kootu with rice!!! 

  

Carrot Paniyaram

I am not sure if this dish already exists :).As far I am concerned it was an improvisation I made by myself to normal kuzhi paniyaram and certainly happy with the results. Infact nowadays I never make kuzhi paniyaram without carrot!! It makes an yummy breakfast on relaxing weekend with minimal efforts. You can suprise sudden guests too with this as a tea time snack. Sharing the recipe and hope you find it useful!!

Carrot Paniyaram

Cuisine: Indian Category: Breakfast Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: -- Cook time: 30 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients Dosa Batter 2 Cups Onion 2 medium sized Carrot 1 small sized Green Chilli 2 Salt 1/4 Tsp Oil 1/4 cup To Temper Oil 1 Tsp Mustard 1/2 Tsp Asafetida A generous pinch

Method            1.     Chop the onions and green chili very finely and grate the carrot. In pan add oil and temper with mustard and Asafetida.   2.     Add the onions and green chili. Saute till the onions become translucent and add the grated carrot along with salt. Saute for few minutes and add this to the dosa batter.     3.     Heat the paniaram pan and add 1/2 tsp oil for each mould. Add the batter and cook in medium flame for 2-3 minutes.Gently flip and cook the other side for another 2 mins by adding little oil.     4.     Serve hot with any chutney of your choice!

Notes      ·         The batter should be bit sour. I usually make idly for first two days followed by dosa for next two days and finish off with paniyaram/oothappam.      ·         You can add ginger, 1/4 tsp vendayam while tempering if you like that taste.      ·         since paniyaram needs little more oil than dosa I prefer it for breakfast. You can make it as evening snacks/ dinner too.

Taste yumm with idli podi too!!!