Avial Recipe Step by Step | Aviyal Recipe without curd

Guys!  Planning for traditional lunch menu for upcoming Pongal Feastival?
Don't forget to add this delicious Aviyal in your list. This is a must traditional side dish in any festival or in family function meal planner. Our traditional wide spread plantain leaf feast is never complete without this Aviyal in it.

Usually in Kerala this Aviyal is made with addition of curd but in our house (South Tamil nadu) we don't add curd, as we use to add Raw Mango for the tangy taste.

This is basically a south indian side dish served as a accomplishment for Rice or Adai.
This recipe is made with mixed vegetables along with coconut paste. Vegetables which can be used in Avial are Drumstick, Raw Mango, Radish, Chow Chow, Brinjal, Carrot, Beans, Potato, Plantain, Cucumber, Ash gourd, Yam etc.,
Usually bitter vegetables or color changing vegetables are avoided in this recipe like bitter gourd and beetroots.

Coming to the recipe...

Ingredients:

Mixed Vegetables - 3 Cup
Coconut - 1 Cup
Jeera - 1/2 teaspoon
Green Chilly - 2
Shallot - 6 nos.
Salt to taste.
Oil
Mustard - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 1 tablespoon

Method:

• Wash and Cut all the vegetables length wise.
• Grind coconut, green chilly, shallot, jeera and keep it aside.
• Pressure cook vegetable with 1/4 cup water for 1 Whistle .
• Heat a pan season it with oil , mustard and curry leaves.
• Add coconut paste saute for few seconds.
• Add the vegetables, salt to the pan and gently mix to get a coat of coconut paste.
• Allow to cook for just 5 minutes in slow flame and switch off.
• Serve it with hot Rice  / Rice Noodles or  with Adai.

Aval Upma | Red Poha Recipe

Looking for simple, healthy and easy to make breakfast ? Here it is...Try this Aval Upma / Red Poha seasoned with spices.It suits as a light breakfast or as a snack.

Usually pregnant women eat 6 small meals, this recipe will serve as a good snack or as a light breakfast or dinner for them and this can be done in just 5 to 10 minutes.

Red Poha is rich in Iron, having red poha in your menu regularly will keep your hemoglobin count at its best.

Ingredients:

Red Flattened Rice / Aval - 1 cup (Thick Variety)
Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon
Onion - 1 no.
Red Chilly - 2 no.
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Curry leaves - few
Salt to taste
Oil to temper.

Method:

Wash the Red Flattened Rice.
Soak it in water for 5 Minutes.

Heat a pan with oil, season it with mustard, curry leaves, red chilly and add chopped onion.
Saute the onion until it turns light golden color.

Drain the Red flattened rice and add it to the seasoning and add required salt.
Mix well and keep it in slow fire until the red flattened rice gets bit soft (just 5 minutes).

Finally add the grated coconut, mix well.
Switch off and Serve hot.

Curry leaves Kuzhambu | Kariveppilai Kuzhambu | Karuveppilai kuzhambu

Curry leaves kuzhambu is simple and delicious tangy gravy of south Indian kitchen.

It tastes great with rice, idly and dosa. 

I should mention that it will be a treat for pregnant women with its tangy, spicy, mild sweet taste and also with its health benefits too.

Being pregnant want to try some healthy and at the same time tangy, spicy gravy which suits my taste buds so made it for my Sunday lunch, had it with hot steaming rice along with papad.

Ingredients:

Mustard seeds – ¼ teaspoon

Shallot – 10 nos.

Tamarind -  Gooseberry size

Coriander Powder – 2 teaspoon

Chilly Powder – 2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Oil to temper (Preferably Sesame seed oil)

To dry roast and grind to paste:

Curry Leaves / Karuvepillai – 1 handful (tightly packed)

Coconut – 1 tablespoon

Redchilly – 3 nos.

Garlic – 10 nos. (De skin)

Method:

Soak tamarind in water for ½ hour and extract juice.

Peel the skin of shallot, wash and keep it aside.

Dry roast and grind the ingredients given under “To dry roast and grind to paste” to smooth paste.

Heat a pan with oil season mustard seeds, add shallots and sauté till it becomes translucent.

Add the grinded paste, Coriander powder, Chilly powder and Salt.

Add the tamarind extract, cover and cook until the raw smell goes off.

Add a small piece of jaggery to enhance the taste (Optional)

Keep it in slow fire until the curry thickens and oil oozes out.

Note:

You can add Sambar Powder instead of chilly and coriander powder.

I have already posted Poondu Karuvepillai Kuzhambu here.

Purana Kozhukattai (Coconut & Jaggery)

Do u have the habit of seeing calendar daily? Do u check and get it noted that what are all the auspicious days which comes on the current month??

No…I never had that habit early but, blogging has bought me this habit of seeing the calendar regularly and getting all the auspicious days noted… also to get prepared for those celebration.

So now this post is for “Chitra Pournami” (on 3^rd May 2015)…Full Moon Day of Tamil month Chithirai.  It is celebrated to remove negative energy and dissolve your karma. We believe that lord “Chitra Gupta” was born on this day to the Mother “Kamadenu” so we avoid taking Milk and Milk product on this day.

People use to prepare Sarkarai Pongal, Pidi Kozhukattai and Variety Rice on this day…I Prepared this Purana Kozhukattai for my blog post for the special day "Chitra Pournami". It's made with stuffed grated coconut and Jaggery.

Ingredients:

For Outer Cover:

Rice flour -3 cups

salt a pinch

Water 3 cups

Oil or ghee - 1 table spoon

For Filling:

Grated coconut - 1cup

Jaggery - 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder ½ sp

Roasted gram powder – 1 table spoon (Pottukadai podi)

Method:

Mix grated coconut, jaggery, cardamon powder and roasted gram in a shallow bowl and keep it aside.

This mixture is called Puranam in Tamil.

Boil water in a heavy bottom pan and add salt to it.

Keep the flame lower and add the ready made rice flour, stir without lump and till it is soft.

Switch of the flame and when it attain the temperature which is bearable by your hand.

Grease your hand with Ghee.

Take a small portion and make a round ball shape, out of it make a deep thumb impression to make it like a cup... fill the cup with Puranam and close it by rounding into ball shape.

Make the remaining outer cover dough and puranam in the same way.

Keep the Kozhukattai in the idly steamer and cook it until done.

Oats Spiced Buttermilk | Oats Neer More

I have seen people having oats porridge as breakfast to reduce or maintain weight. But what is the use if you drink oats with creamy milk and white sugar??? Doesn’t it add on to your calorie?

Well here is a low calorie light breakfast porridge for weight watchers…It will also serves as a refreshing for this summer too…It’s a fusion of our traditional Neer More and Oats.

Here I used low fat milk to get this homemade curd for making this buttermilk.

Ingredients:

Curd - 1 cup

Oats - 2 tablespoon

Water - 2 cups

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves - 1 tablespoon

Asafoedita - 2 pinch

Curry leaves - Optional

To grind:

Chilly - 1 no.

Ginger - a small piece

Jeera - 1/4 teaspoon

Method:

Heat a vessel with required water and add Oats and cook it until done.

Grind Chilly, Ginger and Jeera in a hand motor pestle and keep it aside.

Beat the curd with water and add the grinded spices and salt to it.

Add the cooked oats to this buttermilk and pulse it in mixer for 1 second.

Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves

Note:

 Tempering / Seasoning with mustard seeds and curry leaves are optional
If you are going to have this for breakfast, then add more oats and make it thick so, it will be filling.

Linking this recipe to Saturday Snapshot series#9 hosted at Merry Tummy and Siris Food.

Aval Nanachathu | Sweetened Rice Flakes

It's one of the healthy and yummy recipe of Kerala Cuisine. This recipe serves as a best after school snack for your kids and it requires just 5 to 10 minutes of preparation time.
I have used beaten red rice flakes, you can substitute it with white rice flakes too, however the red one is rich in Iron content.
Also you can substitute sugar instead of Jaggery.
I like to add more milk and have it like... how we have cornflakes :), if you too prefer that way go ahead and add one more cup of milk to this recipe.

Ingredients:

Aval / Poha / Beaten Rice flakes (Red or White) - 1 Cup
Jaggery - 1/2 Cup
Fresh Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Milk - Approximately 2 cups / To mix the Aval
Cardamon - 2 pinch
Banana - 1 no (Sliced)


Method:

Wash the Aval and drain the water completely.

Mix the Aval with Jaggery, Cardamom, Grated coconut and milk
Allow to get the aval soaked in milk for 5 to 10 minutes.

Now the Sweet Rice Flake is Ready. Serve it with Banana slices.

Pomegranate Lemonade

Pomegranate Lemonade is a simple summer cooler. You can substitute lemon juice with Spirit or Limca too, but i prefer to add natural lemon.

Being pregnant daily i use to have pomegranate so, everyday i think to make something different with this fruit and i find this drink to be best for this summer season and it serves as a best thirst quencher.

Ingredients:

Pomegranate – 1
Lemon Juice – ½ Lemon
Sugar – as required
water  - if required.

Method:

Extract Pomegranate juice using juicer.
If you are using mixer filter the seeds and extract juice alone.

Add required amount of sugar and water if required.

And squeeze the ½ lemon to it, mix well and serve it chilled.