Tofu Sambal

This entry of goes to JFI-Soya of Monsoon Spice.

Moving to Singapore I was always fasinated by the way Chinese(buddhists & Chrishtians) Malysian(Muslims) & Tamilians (Hindus) live together in one country with lot of peace. Also how Chinese could maintain a very slim figure, malaysians a very heafty one & tamilians mainly from India a moderate one. Malaysians have a wide range of specialities, but for them briyani (I didnt spell wrongly, its called briyani instead of biriyani as normal) is the main dish & all non-veg stuff, but one of the vegge delicacies that they make to go as a side dish to briyani is Sambal. This

Sambal is prepared by us on a weekly basis as soya is good for health(definelty in moderation) & we use this is the side dish for our normal Sambhar rice or chapati or biryani. One other important ingredient for this Sambal is the Sambal red chilli which is used mainly this part of the country, but we can use normal chilli powder instead of this also.

Ingredients:

Tofu cut in rectanular pieces
Sambal red chillies (around 6)
or chilli powder (kashmiri chillies)
Onion - 1 big
Garlic - 6 cloves
Tomatoes - 2 big


Method:
1. Fry the tofu with little oil & be careful that the tofu does not stick on the sides (Good to get silken tofu which is soft)
2. Immerse Sambal red chillies in hot water for some time & once soft grind it with garlic to a smooth paste (if you are using kashmiri red chilli powder saute them for some time in warm oil & grind with garlic)
3. Take some oil in the pan & fry the prepared paste nicely till all the dry smell is gone (if you are using sambal red chilies then you need to fry for more time for the dry smell to go)
4. Once nicely fried add onion & tomatoes to this & also saute for some more time to make a thick paste and oil leaves the sides of the pan.
5. Then add tofu to it to coat all the masalas to the fried tofu. Be careful not to break the tofu.
6. Dont add coriander leaves as it gives a different taste to it.

Note :- Fry the tofu's carefully since this makes then crumbled. We buy Silken Tofu available vaccuum packed here in local supermarkets.

Salt Seedai

Its Gokulashtami and none of the Krishna pooja is complete without this savoury snack in most of the south indian homes. Many of them are familiar with this snack and still many of them are frightened to try out seedais as they might burst.
As far as I know and have been told by my grandmother, seedais burst for a few reasons. In those days people used sea salt also known as " kal uppu" or "khada namak". As this salt contained impurities they would burst in the oil. The sea salt had to be dissolved in water and then mixed in the dough. If it would not be dissolved completely, then it would burst.
Next reason is the sesame seeds. In India we would buy ingredients in loose i.e. not the packaged ones. These non packaged items would contain mud or small stones or other impurities. Hence the sesame seed would be washed and rinsed and then dried in shade and then used in making snacks.
The other thing to my knowledge is the water content in the dough. The dough should be kneaded nicely and then the small balls of seedais are to be rolled with the fingertips just to the extent that they form a ball. They are not to be rolled tightly into perfect circular balls as these balls need some space for the steam to escape while frying.
After marriage, I did not take the trouble to process the rice flour as I had no patience and the time to do it and after all I was alone. I used store bought rice flour and other ingredients and they still came out as good as my patty's seedai. I would like to share this simple recipe with others and I'm sure u will not go wrong with it.

Ingredients :

1 cup rice flour
1 tsp. roasted urad flour
2 tbsp. butter ( room temp.)
1 tsp. sesame seeds
3 tbsp. grated fresh coconut
1/2 tsp. asafoetida powder
Salt to taste ( add very little, knead the dough and then add if necessary )

Method :

1. Roast the rice flour in a pan till hot. ( When u touch the flour it should be bearable hot )
2. Roast 1/2 cup of urad dal or whole urad till pink. Cool completely and grind in the mixie. Seive and keep the smooth flour. One can keep this roasted urad flour for a month and use it to make other savoury snacks too.
3. After both the flours have completely cooled down, take the specified quantity of flours, add sesame seeds, coconut gratings, asafoetida, salt and butter and mix will with fingertips till the butter is dispersed in the flour.
4. Sprinkle water little by little and knead into a soft dough.
5. Take a little part of the dough and start making small balls of marble size with ur fingertips lightly and spread on a clean cotton cloth.
6. After u have rolled out all the dough, heat oil in a kadai to medium hot, add a handful of the balls to the hot oil and fry till light pink in colour. Remove from oil and allow to cool and store in air tight container.
(If u r frightened that the seedais might burst, put a handful in the oil and move away from the oil for a minute or two and then u can return and fry them with a ladle.)

Eggless Banana Walnut Muffins

When we were young school going girls, our mother would buy cake from the local bakery and we would have it in the evening. It was a treat for us. Our mother would never return empty handed after her shopping. It would be either samosas, kachoris or cakes or mithais. We knew that if mom has gone out then some treat would be there after she returns. We had a bakery near our house where we used to get freshly baked bread, cakes, khari puffs, veg. puffs and so many other things. As the place where we lived was mostly populated by Jains, we would even get eggless cakes on order. I would wonder how these eggless cakes were also so soft and fluffy as the ones with eggs. As we are pure vegetarians, buying egg at home was not allowed even though we would buy cakes with eggs and eat them ( except for my parents and grandmother). After my (Sucharitha) marriage, my inlaws were and are very orthodox and they dont even eat certain vegetables on certain days. It was very difficult for me to think and cook only vegetables that are allowed leave alone the eggs. I had always heard about Tarla Dalal in the 90's and she inspired me a lot. I joined her website and downloaded a lot of recipes including the Jain recipes which I had to make i.e. the ones without onions and garlics. I came upon this cake recipe and gave it a try. I was so proud of the results and it was a hit with my in-laws and relatives. I couldn't believe that an eggless cake would be so soft and tasty. From then on, I vowed not to think about the cakes with eggs when the eggless ones were more tastier and softer than those. Here is the recipe for Eggless Banana Walnut muffins.
"Eggless Banana Walnut muffins"




Ingredients :

2 bananas smashed
1/4 cup walnuts coarsely chopped
1 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup butter ( at room temperature ) { original recipe calls for 1 cup } 3/4 cup sugar ( powdered ) { original recipe calls for 1 cup }
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
3 - 4 tbs. milk
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Method :

Note : All the ingredients should be a room temperature. Keep all the ingredients ready or out of fridge before starting.

1. Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Beat butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon till fulffy or until the sugar is completely is mixed with the butter.
3. Seive all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda together.
4. Mix in the flour with the butter mixture little by little, add essence, banana, milk and mix gently. ( Do not mix the batter too much. Just mix so that the ingredients become one).

5. Add the walnuts, stir and pour into muffin moulds till half of the mould and bake for 20 mins. or till a knife inserted in the centre of the muffin comes out clean.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 - 15 mins. and then dig in.

You can also pour the batter into a cake pan and bake into a cake. My experience is that the muffin recipes come out soft when they are made into muffins than like a cake. This batter makes about 10 - 12 muffins.

Gajar (Carrot) Halwa

The title makes me goto the shivers of the winters & the colourful market place where I would accompany my mom & see those red carrots which you get in the north. The carrots look so full of life that sometimes I am so astonished by the nature.

I remember my mom making gajar halwa(authentic one without condesnsed milk) and I gulping each & every bite of it. As a house hold lover of sweets we relish each & every sweet we buy or make. Also remember how our granny used to be after us not to eat too much & she used to hide the sweets in some place. We could not resist and would try to find it in the afternoon time when everyone was having a nap & try to finish some for sure without knowing.

The place where we stay "Jalgaon" is a very good place for sweets & we surely miss the pure ghee & milk sweets from there.

The story related to sweets is very long with people of sweet tooth like us.

"Carrot Halwa"


1.5 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)**regular butter may work too
Grated carrot 2 cups
whole milk 1/2 cup
half cup sugar
depending on taste3 shelled green cardamoms powdered
1/4 cup cashews (or almonds) and golden raisins
nutmeg powder optional





1. Melt the ghee, fry the raisins first until they puff up, take them out. Fry the nuts until golden and take them out.

2. Add the carrots to the same ghee and fry until dryish. Frying the carrots adds a nice texture to it (This can also be done in the microwave)


3. Meanwhile, add 1/2 cup of milk to the carrots & allow it to boil, you can also pressure cook the same for 2 whistles. Do not use more than 1/2 cup liquid since it becomes watery if you pressure cook.

4. Add the condensed milk, sugar(if needed, definetly you need it since the condesnsed milk sweetness is not enough) to the carrots and cook down until really thick and it begins to come off the sides.To aid thickening, you can add the nutmeg (jathikkai in tamil) powder. This is optional, but the nutmeg powder makes it creamier and enhances the flavour.

Believe me it smells heavenly!!!

5. The carrots should have texture in the end, and they should not be too ‘milky’. So cook them for 10-12 minutes, max on medium-high heat. (This too can be done in an uncovered container in the microwave, stirring every couple of minutes.)

6. Once its quite thick add the powdered cardamoms, cashews and raisins. Stir and serve warm.


Note :- Consistency is very important, be carerful with the milk you put & the time you need to keep in the heat. Also nutmeg make the dish smell totally different.

I dont get those wonderful red carrots in Singapore, but surely the orange ones dont taste less bad, finally its the color & taste which if you want can add in some red color or kesari powder to it at the end.

Spicy Dill Seeds Rasam

Our grandmother is a very good cook and apart from that she has home remedies for almost all common diseases. Even though she is more than 80, she still tells us remedies for the stomach problems or the common cold or bites or sprains etc etc. The following post is a rasam made with "Suva seeds" ( "aalshi or balant saunf" in Marathi, "sadakuppai" in Tamil, "dill seeds" in English and "suva" in Hindi ) If any of u happen to know the translations in other languages, please feel free to write them. I make this rasam once in a week to remove the toxins and the water retention in the body. It is very good for pregnant ladies as it helps to remove the excess water and helps in digestion. The seeds can be found in the US in the Indian stores and in Chennai in any "Nattu marundhu kadai" and in Maharashtra in the spice shops or the masala shops.


This entry of mine goes to "Think spice" hosted by Sunita of Sunita's world. Thank you Sunita for hosting this event of spice as this is giving me an opportunity for the first time to participate in an event.

This entry also goes to "Herb Mania - Dill" hosted by Lakshmi of "The yum blog" and which was started by Dee at Ammalu's Kitchen.

Dill seeds

"Sadakuppai Rasam"

Ingredients :

To be fried and ground into paste :
1 tsp. Dill seeds (sadakuppai)
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 red chilli
8 - 10 peppercorns



Other ingredients :
1 cup thick tamarind juice
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
salt to taste

Seasonings :
1 tsp. ghee
/2 tsp. mustard seeds
a few curry leaves.

Method :

1. Boil the tamarind juice along with salt and turmeric powder till the raw smell of the tamarind is lost. ( about 10 mins. )
2. Fry the given ingredients in a drop or 2 of ghee, cool and grind to a smooth paste adding a little water about 1 - 2 tbsp.
3. Add the ground paste to the boiling tamarind water, add a cup and a half of water and allow it to boil.
4. In a pan, heat the ghee, add mustard seeds, let it crackle and then add the curry leaves and pour over the rasam.
5. Close the rasam vessel with a lid and serve after a few mins. ( this allows the smell of the ghee and curry leaves to get absorbed in the rasam)




Serve this rasam with hot rice and ghee along with roasted rice appalam (papad) or any dry vegetable of your choice.