Kugan's Kitchen Part 7

CUCUMBER RAITHA

2 cups yogurt well beaten.
6 inches long cucumber, grated
1 shallot finely chopped
2 green chillies finely chopped, or ground
A pinch of red chillie powder (optional )
1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder
salt to taste
little chopped coriander leaves.

Method:

grate the cucumber with or without the skin.
squeeze out the juice.
All the ingredients to the beaten curds and mix well.
Chill before serving.

NOTE: you can add little tomato cubes if you like.
Or you can add little grated carrot if you like

PS -

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for. Located it in the blog... Also K aka has said that it will stay for 6 months, so maybe we need to add this to our Summer Plans.!

QUOTE ---

Nowadays seldom people make this curry vadagam.
Its easier to buy than to make. I make my own so that I use all clean ingredients and make it clean. I do it 6 months once.
My aunt makes a very tasty chutney using the ridgegourd skin and the vadagam. I will get the recipe soon.
vadagams are used for seasoning in the gravy, poriyal,
kutoo and chutneys. vadagams give a special aroma and flavour for the dishes.
The dal are raw and ground into coarse powder.
Suvai nga when we want to cook a gravy, normally we will pour oil in the pot, then break up the vadagam into pieces, and use little or more according to the amount of gravy or poriyal you want to do.
these vadagams are only seasonings.

CURRY VADAGAM

Ingredients:
250 grms small red onions
200 grms garlic pips
125 grms toor dal
20 grms urad dal
20 grms cumin seeds
20 grms mustard seeds
20 grms curry leaves
15 grms tumeric powder
¼ cup of oil
2 tbs of salt

Method:
Skin the onions and garlic, wipe them dry.
Chop both the onions and garlic into fine pieces
Chop also the curry leaves also into fine pieces
Grind the toor dal and urad dal into coarse powder.
Add all the other ingredients except the oil.
Crush them lightly so that they can be moulded into balls.
Dry them in the hot sun.


In the evening break all of them, add half of the oil and mix well.
Make them into balls again. Next morning dry them in the sun again.
Again in the evening do the same process using the other half portion of the oil.
Now dry the balls in the hot sun for about 15 days, till it becomes hard.
Store them in a air tight container.

NOTE: Normally castor oil is used. Since this oil is banned in Malaysia,
I use gingelly oil.

Thanks Meera, for the raita recipe.

12 hours must be gruesome.. Plus i can understand the looong traffic jams in the DC area..
Cooking for entire week also is an arduous job.. not as easy as it seems..
I tried for couple of weeks, then i gave up..

Anyways... its friday. Happy weekend to you :)

Sangeetha -

Neenga feel panadeenga .. antha lavish spread ellam parthuttu.. ivanga ellarume ippadithan :2thumbsup:
Starting la nanum shock ayten... ippo pazhageeduchu (kumki dialog!) :-D
minimum 6/7 dishes illana dan shock anum :mrgreen:

Thanks Meera for the nice welcome and clarification. THis hub has become by one spot now. I know cooking every curry in one day is the most difficult task . ITs all my mind set I know its bad but hesitant to change. Even when I used to work will strugle a lot but still was always regular in cooking daily. Spoilt child definetly agree.

Priyasri I feel happy that , I am not alone wondering the variety shown in a day by Kugan.

Tried spicy potato rice taste was very good but my potato absorved lot of oil. don't know if boiled potatoes will do good too. Icecream feed back tomorrow.

PS Thamby defintely I am ur akka in eating spicy foods. Like the ones who have sweet toungue I have chillie toungue.

Though I have not tried baking vadams in oven I have always been thinking to do so. I have dried orange skin in oven and the result was really as good as sun dried ones.

YOu can try this simple vadam which I have tried in sun dry method.

CHinna vengaya vadam

nicely mash 24 hrs old, 2 cup cooked raw rice. add 2 cups chopped shallots to it , then add salt and chille powder according to taste. mix them throughly and roughly shape them like tiny shallots (chinna vengayam) . SUn dry the vadams or set oven to the minimum temp in a tray place butter sheets and spray oil on it and arrange these vadagams.once dried deep fry them and enjoy ! (It will take 8 hrs to 10 hrs for this oven method i guess. for me atleast electricity is free).

I feel the more people request here for recipes the more wisdom comes . learn a new or an old forgot recipe. eg dev request for Paal ice sold in 80s , and also some Malaysian recipes gave us those recipes. PS thamby request of pita bread and falafel gaves a recipe to combine them and present as a sandwich. suvais request of uppadam puli vadai and so on. so pls request more so that our master of cooking will load us with lot of info.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by priyasri

Thanks Meera, for the raita recipe.

12 hours must be gruesome.. Plus i can understand the looong traffic jams in the DC area..
Cooking for entire week also is an arduous job.. not as easy as it seems..
I tried for couple of weeks, then i gave up..

Anyways... its friday. Happy weekend to you :)

Sangeetha -

Neenga feel panadeenga .. antha lavish spread ellam parthuttu.. ivanga ellarume ippadithan :2thumbsup:
Starting la nanum shock ayten... ippo pazhageeduchu (kumki dialog!) :-D
minimum 6/7 dishes illana dan shock anum :mrgreen:

---

Thanks Priya for your nice post. You made my day.
Well I have no choice, but to cook for a week.
Priya, even though I welcome Fridays with open arms, but there are also many hurdles to pass.
Marketing in Lotte for the weekend, laundry, house cleaning and so on.
Children have their religious classes , kumon and many things on sundays.
Phew! really tiring Priya, so enjoy life when you get the time:-D
Thanks and take care Priya, hope to see you more in the forum.
Meerra

P.S, thanks to sangeetha for the vadagam recipe.
I do not know if you can dry it in the oven.
One good suggestion, why don't you wait till summer:yessir:
Meerra

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sangeethabalaji

Thanks Meera for the nice welcome and clarification. THis hub has become by one spot now. I know cooking every curry in one day is the most difficult task . ITs all my mind set I know its bad but hesitant to change. Even when I used to work will strugle a lot but still was always regular in cooking daily. Spoilt child definetly agree.

Priyasri I feel happy that , I am not alone wondering the variety shown in a day by Kugan.

Tried spicy potato rice taste was very good but my potato absorved lot of oil. don't know if boiled potatoes will do good too. Icecream feed back tomorrow.

PS Thamby defintely I am ur akka in eating spicy foods. Like the ones who have sweet toungue I have chillie toungue.

Though I have not tried baking vadams in oven I have always been thinking to do so. I have dried orange skin in oven and the result was really as good as sun dried ones.

YOu can try this simple vadam which I have tried in sun dry method.

CHinna vengaya vadam

nicely mash 24 hrs old, 2 cup cooked raw rice. add 2 cups chopped shallots to it , then add salt and chille powder according to taste. mix them throughly and roughly shape them like tiny shallots (chinna vengayam) . SUn dry the vadams or set oven to the minimum temp in a tray place butter sheets and spray oil on it and arrange these vadagams.once dried deep fry them and enjoy ! (It will take 8 hrs to 10 hrs for this oven method i guess. for me atleast electricity is free).

---

Dear Sangeetha, thanks for your wonderful post. Very nice to go through.
Also thanks for trying out many recipes, that will make Kugan very happy.

Sangeetha, Kugan is from a kutoo kudumbam.
There are 11 members in her family, plus her driver makes it a dozen.
Even though they have maids, it is a tradition in their family that, cooking is done by the lady of the house.
No one comes to their house during lunch time or dinner time , goes without eating.
That is a strict rule of their late father-in-law.
So Kugan cooks a variety daily, rasam, tayir, a kulambu and about 3 side dishes.

Kugan is from India, married into a Malaysian family.
She lived like a princess in her home without doing any work.
Kugan knows nothing to knots in cooking.
Her mother- in-law trained her to become a super cook.
Now she can cook even for 100 people with ease.

Kugan is a super woman, she takes care of the house, children, and also the accountant to her companies.
We are all very proud of our Kugan.

Sangeetha please go through all the threads, you will find lots of recipes to cook.
So you can cook daily variety in your house.
Please I am sure you too will have some special recipes.
Please post it for us to follow.
Thanks and take care, Meerra

Dear Guys, our dear friend Ramrish has posted a Panner Tikka Masala recipe in her blog.
I tried it out and it came out awesome. Thanks Ramrish for the recipe.
I am posting her recipe with my picture. Thanks Meerra

PANNER TIKKA MASALA by RAMRISH

Ingredients:

Paneer - 10 ,1-inch cubes

Tomato - 2 medium(fully ripe).Puree it in a blender.

Bell pepper - 2 cut into inch cubes

Onion - 1 medium diced

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Chili powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1tsp

Kasoori methi - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1tsp

Oil - 6 tablespoon

Yogurt - 3 tablespoon

Salt - to taste

Method:

For the marinade :

Combine paneer,yogurt,salt,kasoori methi,chillipowder and allow to marinate in a airtight box in the refrigerator for 1 hr.
After 1 hr ,in a pan with 1 tsp oil,saute the marinated paneer pieces till slightly brown and drain them in paper towels.Keep aside

In the same pan,heat oil.When hot,add the cumin seeds.When it splutters,add the onion and allow to brown a little.

Now add ginger-garlic paste and saute till raw smell goes off.Add the turmeric powder ,chili powder and a little bit of salt.Add the capsicum pieces and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the tomato puree,garam masala and saute till oil oozes from the masala.Add 1 1/2 cups of water and allow to boil.Then add the paneer pieces,boil on medium heat till the paneer gets soft and absorbs the masala.Check for salt and garnish with coriander leaves.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8095/8...88825ee4_z.jpg

Thank you Meera I am already going through all and what ever is my fav I am bookmarking and the list is now endless. 11 membersa oh my God. Work will be too tight but I think it is a blessing to live like that. THen I totally agree all the dishes will be over. Somehow I dont know whenever I visit India I am able to eat a lot like sambar rasam keerai poriyal kootu curd etc .because of the weather and work load i guess. my amma got married at 18 and she was also trained by her MIL. She always praises her in law for her great great cooking. Paati make a 5 star lunch or dinner without much ingredients actually sometimes with water and some seasoning . Her hands are so so good. Unfortunately both of them passed away and I seriously feel bad of not learning from them. I was also spoilt that way romba chelem and was not able to face when everything turned upside down.

the simple icecream is super. exactly like paal ice. I double the quantity of milk because I have strange taste buds. even too little is too sweet to me. I like sweets but its has to be with 50% less sugar. But still the icecream turned out exactly to my expectations. THanks to dev for asking this and thanks to Kugan for giving the recipe.