Javvarisi Vadai (Sago Fritters) and an Award

This is my entry for this month's Edition of T&T. Zlamuska is the brain child of T&T and Ashwini is the host for this month's edition. T&T is a very appreciative event in which a blog is chosen and we try to cook the best and blogger's special dishes. As Ashwini put it, the motto of the event is "a monthly event of appreciation of other blogs - an opportunity to thank your fellow blogger for sharing their recipes by re-creating them. Peek into their kitchen to see what’s cooking and go for it! Take it, make it and say it!".

This month's chosen blogger is Ashaji of Foodie hope. Foodie hope is a blog full of recipes along with book and film reviews. I enjoyed a lot of Ashaji's food and the movie list. I had started to see a lot of movies after reading her reviews. Not only does she gives her recipes, but she also never fails to try the fellow blogger's recipes. I just loved looking at the photos and her write ups. She rocks. Look at her blog and you will fall in love with it.

Javvarisi vadai or Sago Vadai is a crispy snack when hot and chewy when cold. Either way it would be delicious. And she recommends coconut or mint chutney to accompany it. I have not made any variation to the recipe so I will be posting just the pictures. But I have not added Sesame seeds and Curry leaves as I did not have them.

So now its time for my award. Padma of Padma's Recipes has passed me the "Kreative Blogger" award. I was so delighted when I saw it. Thanks Padma, I am indeed honored. She was the one who passed my first award and now I am again receiving my second award from her. Thanks once again, you made my day.

The Kreativ Blogger award comes with some rules:-
1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated

I must now nominate 7 other friends to whom I would pass this award to. So here goes the list

1. Suparna of Food Fascinations
2. Divya Vikram of Dil Se
3. Suchitra of Easy Crafts
4. Rajeshwari ofRak's Kitchen
5. Preeti of Preeti's Cookbook
6. Pinky of Esho-Bosho-Aahaare
7. Ramya Anand of Simple Vegetarian Recipes

Now coming to the tough part.. 7 interesting things about me.

1. I am a B.E graduate who has worked for a couple of years in software industry. But I love being a house wife as it is the most satisfying role ever. Now my promotion as a mother has made my life full. My small family is my world and happiness to me. These are the people who inspire me and makes each day meaningful.
2. I have a great deal of interest in arts, interior decorating and a bit with civil engineering (I love the part of designing our own house plan... Come on who wouldn't love it... and you dont have to be an engineer to do it). I love to decorate my house with whatever little things left. But if u think I am a clean freak... oops wrong.. I am not... I clean might be once in 2 days... Hey I live in US and you cannot expect life to be simpler than this in India.
3. I love everything spiritual. I love to do poojas and reading the holy hymns and books (Ramayanam and slogams). Nothing soothes me more than the lamp we lit in our pooja room (errr.. the pooja shelf)
4. I love window shopping.. I would spend hours and hours in TNagar, but yet would have purchased a very few items that are totally unnecessary and some times, I just love to kill time with the salted mangai purchased at the footsteps of Nalli 100 in TNagar
5. I love to wear sarees. Esp. dress myself good during some wedding. I love cotton and silk sarees. I would wear less jewels or jewels with artistic designs. When I dress in a saree I love wearing jasmine flower. I earlier had hair till my hip. I hope it grows that long shortly.
6. I had been to Banyan, the home for destitue women. I really love to give alms and help. I used to give 25% of my salary to temples or homes. Also I would donate the used dresses. I request everyone to donate as much as you can and also cultivate such a thing in your kids
7. I love presents esp. when my hubby buys me some. And same way, I would like to present him too with gifts. Its been a dream that I celebrate his B'day in a grand (my) way. But has never happened in all these 2 years.

Hope that was enough. I request the nominees to accept their awards

Tomato Dosa

When I first made breakfast after marriage, I made the ready made Upma for a few days and managed with Post and Kellogs Cereals. But after a couple of weeks, I decided to make Dosai and Idly. When I asked my mom for proportions, she gave me the one she used. But when I tried it, it was a bit tough and did not come out as soft as I had expected. When I turned back to my mother again, she said all these are trial and error, so you are on your own. She suggested that I try out different proportions before I stick to one ratio.

The first time I made using the proper proportions, I found out that the proportions vary due to the Split Urad Dhal and the fine (Export) quality of the Idly Rice. After a couple of days, I was looking out for variations, when I came across Sailu's Kitchen. I looked up this blog like a bible. I used to try out many of her recipes or incorporating them according to our taste. One such thing was this Tomato Dosai. It is a very Simple Dosai which does not need any fermentation. Since I have not made variation to the recipe (except for skipping the optional ingredients), I would be posting only the pictures. The original post can be found here

Note: Some times, I wouldn't have soaked any raw rice and thuvar dhal, but still I would follow the same ingredients, grind them and mix the tomato mixture to my ordinary Dosa Batter. It would take the taste of the dosas to a next level.

I noticed that I have not posted any Dosai recipes till now. I did not realise that it had slipped out. So, I guess this is the first of Dosai recipes in my blog.

I am sending this recipe to Padma's Dosa Corner Event

Javvarisi Upma (Sabudana Kichidi)

I bought Javvarisi a month back. It is a very popular grain for making payasam and Vadai. I also remember my grandmother making Javvarisi vatral during the summer days in different colors. I soaked some of the Sago yesterday night to make Vadai, but I completely forgot that I ran out of Potatoes. It has been soaked all the day for about 16 hours. It has become completely soft and mushy. I wanted to make something quick out of it, before I lose the day light to take my photos.

The first thing that came to my mind was this kichidi. I had once see a cooking show on Zee TV called Khana Khazana hosted by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor. He had shown how to make this khichidi and a few tips on it. This is one of the popular dishes of Maharashtra and it is done without the addition of Mustard, Garlic or Onion. It is a very simple dish that can be done within a few minutes. We can add any veggies and ofcourse Onions if we are not on any fast.

Ingredients

• Javvarisi /Sago / Sabudana - 1 cup
• Peanuts - 1/2 cup, crushed
• Green Chillies - 3, chopped
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Tomato - 1, diced
• Salt to Taste
• Oil - 3 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Method

Soak the Sago throughout the night. The next morning, it would have become soft and mushy. Also the soaking time depends on the quality and size of the Sago. So if the Sago is hard to crush completely let it soak a bit longer. To this Soaked Sago, add the crushed Peanuts and Salt. Mix it well such that you break down all the lumps formed during soaking.

In a Kadai, add oil and when hot, add the Cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the green chillies and the curry leaves. Toss around with care such that they dont get burnt. Add the Tomatoes. You can also add any veggie at hand. When they have cooked, add the Sago mixture.

Do not cover the upma. Allow it to cook under slow fire. Keep turning at regular intervals so that they don't get burnt.

I have not added any Curry leaves. Back in India, I never realised how vital and necessary Curry leaves would be. In every vegetable store, they would give Curry leaves and Corriander leaves for free or for 50 paise. It used to grow so much in our garden that my mom used to keep plucking at regular intervals to make Kariveppillai podi. Here its so hard to catch hold of these herbs, esp the Curry leaves. They sell like hot cakes. And the mint is so costly that it has become a very occasional affair.

Vendakkai Kuzhambu

Kuzhambu is a very important part of our food.. I mean south indian food. Kuzhambu comes next to Sambar which is the first most nutritious and widely consumed gravy with all kinds of foods (Breakfast, lunch and dinner). It has to be mentioned that Kuzhambu is one step incomplete to the Sambar. What I meant was if we add cooked Dhal to the Kuzhambu it becomes Sambar. There are a lot of variations to the Kuzhambu, like Vatral Kuzhambu, Ennai Kathirikai Kuzhambu, Sundal kuzhambu, Poondu Kuzhambu, Meen Kuzhambu, kari kuzhambu, etc. But this is the basic way I do my kuzhambu.

Before marriage, I used to think, making kuzhambu, Sambar or cooking a good meal itself was a big task. But little did I know at that time, I too would learn to do it sometime sooner. Now, not only do I have to make it tasty but also quick. Thanks to my son, I cannot spend more time in the kitchen and if I did, he would come to the kitchen and make a mess of it or would start to cry!!

You can try a lot of variations by changing the vegetable. Some times you can also add about 1/4 cup of coconut paste to make it richer. It is said that when we cook kuzhambu with Nallennai or Gingelly oil, it would take it the next level. I have tried it and it is true!! The taste would be totally different.

Ingredients

• Onion - 1 medium sized
• Tomato - 1
• Okra - 1/4 kg, cut at 1" intervals
• Garlic - 3 pods
• Green Chillies - 2 slit lengthwise
• Ginger - 1" (optional) chopped finely
• Gingelly oil - 3 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Tamarind - a small lemon size
• Red Chilli pwd - 2 tsp
• Dhania pwd - 1 tsp
• Cumin pwd - 1 tsp
• Turmeric pwd - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to Taste

Method

Extract the juice of the tamarind and set aside. Chop the Onion, garlic and the Tomato finely. In a heavy bottom vessel, heat oil. When hot, add the mustard seeds. When they start to sputter add the fenugreek seeds. Take care not to burn them. Add the onion, green chilies and the garlic. At this stage, you could add the ginger if you wish. Add some salt and allow the onions to turn transparent. Next add the tomatoes and allow them to cook till they form one paste when smashed. Next add the okras and add some water. Add the Red chilli powder, Dhania pwd, Cumin pwd and Turmeric pwd. Mix well and cover the lid and let the veggie become cooked and soft.

When it has become cooked, add the tamarind juice and check if its hot and tangy according to your taste. If not add some more water to reduce the tanginess and about 1/2 tsp of red chilli pwd to increase the heat. Add enough salt to the kuzhambu. Cover it and allow it to boil for 3 mins. Then take the lid and allow it to boil till the raw smell goes away and a thicker consistency is reached.

Whole Moong Dhal Idly (Green Gram Idly)

Pheeew... It has been real long since my last post. Moving, my health and daily chores have been draining my energy enough. My son is turning 14 months old this week and the good news is he has started walking. So now I am running behind him and child proofing the house. But I found time to cook this healthy protien rich Idly from Pavithra's Blog Dishes from My Kitchen. I made it as per the instructions she has given, but I take the pleasure to blog the method once more. I served it up with a hot hot tomato chutney and it disappeared soon...

Ingredients

• Whole Moong Dhal (Green Gram) - 1 cup
• Urad Dhal - 1/4 cup
• Green Chillies - 2
• Salt to taste

Method

Soak the Moong Dhal and Urad Dhal. Grind these together with the green chillies till a coarse consistency. Let it ferment overnight. Pavithra has suggested to add Baking soda if you are going to use it right away. Otherwise it will not be necessary. Add necessary water to bring it to idly batter consistency. Add salt and pour them in the idly moulds. Serve hot with a hot and spicy chutney as the idly will be bland by itself.

P.S: I did not photograph the Tomato chutney. So I will post it with proper photo and method the next time I prepare it. Its quite simple and you will love it!!

This dish goes to the CFK: Healthy Lunch boxes event hosted by Neha of Tasty Recipes. CFK is the brain child of Sharmi of Neivedyam. Also I would like to post it for MLLA 13 hosted by Sunshinemom of Tongue Ticklers. MLLA is the brain child of Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook