Chayote Gravy ( Chow Chow Kootu)

I transform most of the vegetables in the form of kootu to make my two year old eat some vegetables. I usually make with Chayote, Ridge Gourd, Bottle Gourd, Cabbage & Potato combo and Spinach .

Ingredient
Chayote - 2
Moong Dhal-1/4 cup

To Grind
Coconut - 2 tbs
Cumin seeds -1 tsp
Green chillies-3
Small onions-2
Garlic cloves-1

For Tampering
Mustard seeds
Curry Leaves
Red Chillies-1 (optional)

Method.
Peel the Skin of Chayote and cut into small pieces. Boil Moong in a pan with water. Once the Moong gets half cooked add the Chayote Pieces to it. Grind together coconut, Green chillies, Cumin seeds and Garlic Clove. Add the paste and turmeric to the Vegetable. Tamper the Mustard seeds in oil . Add Curry Leaves and hing and add it to the gravy.

Ginger Garlic Paste

Ingredients :

Ginger
Garlic

Method:

Grind Ginger and Garlic Pieces together in a mixie with little water and freeze them in small containers. If you want to refrigerate them pour some hot oil before keeping them.

Kitchen Utensils and Gadgets

Elai Thattu

BRASS MORTAR & PESTLE

Coconut & Poppy Seeds Paste

Ingredients

Grated Coconut - 3 tbs
Poppy Seeds - 2 tbs
Green Chillies -3
Cashews - 1 tbs

Dry Roast the following.
Cardomom -2
Bay Leaves -2
Cinamon Stick - 1 inch
Cloves-3
peppercorns-1/2 tsp
Fennel Seeds - 1 tbs

Method.
Soak the Poppy seeds for few hours. Grind all the ingredients together to make a fine paste. Store the paste in a single serve container and freeze them .


You can make vegetable kurma in no time when you have this paste and homemade Ginger-garlic paste handy.

Chembu Roast(Arvi,Taro)

Chembu or Cheppankizhangu(Taro) is a root vegetable which is widely grown in Tamilnadu and neibouring state Kerala. We usually make chembu roast or use it in Morkuzhambu. This tuber has a gluey texture once boiled. It's a very good Source of Fiber.
I prefer always chembu roast . Most of it will be gone to the stomach even before it hits the dining table.
Ingredients
Chembu(arvi)
Chilli Powder
TurmericSalt
Method:
Pressure Cook the chembu with the skin. Peel the chembu and cut it into small rounds. Then Sprinkle Chilli powder,Turmeric and salt on the chembu rounds and mix it nicely to get the spice onto all the pieces. Heat the Kadai with oil and fry the Chembu pieces till it turns into golden Brown.
Serve hot with Rice and simple daal.

Kosuru : Taro root is used in "POI" which is the staple food of the Hawaiian . They pound the TARO root and add water to make desired consistency. They call it as one finger,two finger and three finger POI. More the water, more the number of fingers needed to take the "POI". Sounds Interesting. They even allow the POI to sit for 2 to 3 days to get a sour taste.

Tapiaco and Lentils Adai

Sweet Mango Pachadi

Elders say start anything with the sweet. I remember when I was a kid, my mom used to ask me to writedown the Grocery list as she would start listing orally. The top one on the list had always been be sugar or Gud. If she had both in sufficient Quantities, she would ask me to write Cheeni Karkandu(Sugar candy) or Panang karkandu(Palm Sugar). If I had written something on the top by mistake , I was asked to make a new list. Follwing My Mom's myth, I would like to follow my first blog with Sweet Mango Pachadi. In India, My mom used to make this dish with "Kili Mooku" Mango. But here in US , I make with the mango which is usually available in the INDIAN Grocery Stores. This dish is not only sweet but also sour and savory, indicating that life is a blend of everything. This dish is my all time favorite. We make this dish as an accompaniment to Lunch meal.
Too much Puraanams? Lemme start with the recipe here.

Ingredients:
Raw Mango - 1
Powdered Gud-1 cup
Salt - a pinch

Seasoning:
Red chillies -2
Mustard Seeds
Curry Leaves

Method.

Peel the Mango skin and make thin slices of mango.
Keep kadaai and boil the mango slice in very little water.
Once it gets cooked, add the powdered Gud and let it boil till the gud blends with the mango nicely to form a syrup-like liquid.
Heat oil in a kadaai and tamper the Mustard seeds, add Red Chillies and Curry Leaves.
Add the seasoning to the Mango.
Yummy side dish is ready to serve with rice or chappathi.

Note: Boil Gud in little water and filter it thro a seive to remove the sand and add the filtered gud to the mango.
" Kili Mooku" - A Variety of Mango available in Tamilnadu. I think it got the name from the shape similar to a beak of a parrot, also called Bangalora or Totapuri.

Welcome to my Blog

Welcome to my blog culinarytours. To tell the truth , I didn't realize what really a blog and how powerful it is until a year ago. Thanks to all food bloggers who inspired me so much to start my own blog. This is the place, where I would like to share the recipes of my mom and mine . Cooking is very much a relaxation to me. I am very passionate towards two things Cooking and Gardening. I love doing both of them to the core.

I'd love to hear from you, so Please feel free to pass your comments.

Thank You for visiting.