Mrs.Mano's Tamilnadu Delicacies

hi Mrs Mano,
Thanks for u'r input on 'Seeraga Samba rice'!

HI Mrs.Mano,
Can you explain the correct way to make vazhakkai varuval [plantain chips] like how we get in shops ? I either get crisp but dark browned ones or if I take them out when pale colour, they remain very soft. Would like to know when exactly should they be taken out of the oil --- should we fry in high heat ?
Please explain,
Thanks & bye,
Urmila.

Dear Mrs.Mano,
I need some suggestions from you on cooking cauliflower crisply without overcooking them.
Also could you please post the recipe for "Kothamalli biryani" if u have it?My friend's mom used to make it all the time and it will be very delicious.

Thanks and Regards,
Suganthi.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mrs.Mano

Dear Shoba!

If you haven’t an oven, then you can cook the briyani in the ‘dhum’ method in a gas oven.
Yes. I have forgotten to mention about the soaking of the rice. For all types of briyani, and the preparations of any rice variety, the rice must be soaked for at least half an hour prior to cooking. Frying it in ghee is not a must. Instead of cream, you can add thickened milk. Salt must be added separately when cooking the vegetables as well as the rice.

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Mrs Mano, sorry to bother you again, but I dont have an oven. What do I do to complete your recipe?

Thank you for clarifying all other points Mrs Mano!

Regards,
Shoba

Shoba,

I guess U've overlooked Mrs.Mano's answer... She has suggested the Dhum method on the gas stove incase U don't have an oven...:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dev

Shoba,

I guess U've overlooked Mrs.Mano's answer... She has suggested the Dhum method on the gas stove incase U don't have an oven...:)

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Hi Dev,

Mrs Mano mentioned gas oven...not gas stove :-), hence my message to her.

Shoba

I was of the opinion that gas oven=gas stove... Never knew tht there was something called gas oven... :roll:

Dear Mrs.Mano,
Tried Thattai and it turned out to be great. It would be great if u let me know the recipe of tomato ooththappam.
Thank you very much for your service.

arrecipes

This question is for anyone having success with tortilla press for making chappathis, especially ppl in USA. I got this tortilla press from a kitchenware store thinking that it would maker my rolling process much simpler. But havent been successfull in my effort. I place the ball shaped dough in between 2 wax papers and then in the center of the press and press it. The result either sticks to the paper or is thick and has not rolled out to the full size of the press. if i press harder in this scenario after i take it out of the paper it shrinks back to a smaller size.

I do know that ppl are successful cos most of the rotis sold in desi stores are the same size and iam 99% positive they do it with this.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

- Sangeetha

Dear Mrs Mano
I went thru ur tips section in arusuai.com .Regarding the methi, milagu powder for diabetic people, can u pls mention the exact quantity to be taken after food .
Thanks and Regards
Pr

Dear Mrs Mano
In some of ur recipes u ahve mentioned muzhu payir . what is muzhu payir ? any other names ?? pls clarify when you find time .
Thanks and Regards
Pr

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pr

Dear Mrs Mano
In some of ur recipes u ahve mentioned muzhu payir . what is muzhu payir ? any other names ?? pls clarify when you find time .
Thanks and Regards
Pr

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If I may answer on behalf of Mrs. Mano,

Muzu Payir is nothing but whole green gram. Whole Mung.
In kannada Hesar Kaalu.

I tried KUSKA BRIYANI yesterday, I prepared with one cup of rice. It came out well. I tried cooking with DHUM method I succeeded.

Thanks Mano

One more request, If u could include the No. of Servings along with ur recipes it wud be very useful.


Thanks

Noodles

Dear Urmila!

I think that you have asked about the banana chips [nenthirangkai chips] prepared by the keralites. They are very expert in this. I like Mrs. Chithra’s method. Here I have pasted the link for that.
http://geocities.com/onasadya/
And thanks a lot for the feedback on kuska briyani.

Dear Suganthi!

Usually the cauliflower florets are very soft and even if we make fries like other fried recipes, the crispness will not last long.

Here is the recipe for Koththamalli briyani.

CORIANDER BRIYANI:

Ingredients:

Raw rice- 2 1/2 cups
Thick coconut milk- 1 cup
Ghee- 1/4 cup
Sliced onion- 1 cup
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Powder the following ingredients coarsely:

Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
Cardamom-2
Cloves-2
Cinnamon- 1 piece

Grind the following ingredients to a coarse mixture:

Tomato [finely chopped]-1cup
Minced ginger- 1 tsp
Minced garlic- 1 tsp
Chopped coriander - 2 cups
Green chillies-1 or 2

Procedure:

Soak the rice in enough water for 1 hour and then drain it in a colander. Heat a broad vessel and pour the ghee. Add the onion with the coarse powder. Fry them well to a golden brown colour. Add the coarse mixture with the turmeric powder and fry them for a few minutes until a fine aroma floats on the air. The green colour should not be changed. Add the coconut milk with enough salt and water. Cook until the rice is done. Add fried cashew nuts for garnishing.

Hello Shoba!

There are gas stoves with or without oven. If you have only gas stove without oven, you can ‘dhum’ the briyani in the following method.
Place a ‘thosaikkal’ on the burner and heat it in full fire. When it is heated fully, reduce the heat to low, and place the briyani vessel on it which is cooked to its 3/4th. Cover with a flat lid. Place a small bowl which is full of cold water [not ice water] on it. Let the briyani cook on this slow fire for 10 minutes. The water in the bowl will become warm. The rice will be almost cooked to perfection. Then open the vessel, mix the briyani carefully, add ghee or anything you want and then again close with the lid and place the bowl again. After 10 minutes the water will become hot and the briyani will be ready to serve. This is the ‘dhum’ method I follow in places where I couldn’t get an oven.

Dear arrecipes!

Thank you very much for the feedback on ‘Thattai’. Here is the recipe for ‘Tomato ooththappam’.

TOMATO OOTHTHAPPAM:

Ingredients:

Boiled rice-1 1/2 cups
Raw rice- 1/2 cup
Fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
Lentils- 2 tbsp
Bengal gram- 1 tsp
Tomato [chopped] - 1 cup
Tamarind- a lime size
Red chillies- 5
Salt to taste

Procedure:

Soak the rice varieties with the fenugreek seeds and the lentils in enough water for 4 hours. Then grind them to a fine batter with the tomatoes, red chillies and tamarind. Add enough salt and allow the batter to ferment for 5 hours. Now you can make ooththappams as usual. You can add finely chopped onion[ 1 cup] as optional.

Dear thattai!

Other than koottu, sambar, poriththa kuzhambu and poriyal with avaraikkai, there is no recipe I know on avaraikkai.

Hello rain!

Thanks a lot for the feedback on ‘kuska briyani’ and ‘pongal’.

Dear Pr!

As Mr.Trivedi had mentioned, ‘muzhu payir’ is ‘whole green gram’ in English.

About the fenugreek powder for the diabetes, fry lightly 100gms of fenugreek seeds with 2 tbsps of peppercorns for a few minutes. There is no need to wait for the change of colour.When cooled, grind them to a fine powder. 1 tsp of this powder must be taken in the morning as well as in the night after taking the food. If the diabetes is in the borderline, one spoon in the morning is enough.

Dear Mrs.Mano
Thank you very much for the Kothamalli biryani recipe.I will get back to you as soon as i try it.

regards,
Suganthi

Dear Mrs Mano and Mr Trivedi
Thank u for clarifying me about muzhu payir ..
Dear Mrs Mano ..
Thank u very much for the explanation about diabetic powder ..
Regards
Pr

Dear Mrs.Mano
I tried ur Kothamalli biryani sooner than i thot i wud :) and it turned out to be delicious..Exactly the same as i tasted at my friend's house..Thank you very much for yet another of your yummy recipe.

Regards
Suganthi

Dear Mrs.Mano


I tried Kuska briyani. It was really Superb.

I just tried with one cup of rice and used my basic math to reduce the ingredents from 6 cups to one cup. I had a doubt that it wud come upto my expectations. Finally It turened out well. Could u pls post the ingredents for one cup.

Once more request, In all ur recipes kindly mention the number of servings.

I have complied all your recipes Older and New responses into KEY NOTE. Once its done i will send it to u.

Please send ur Email Adress.

my email id is:

leotech@rediffmail.com

NOODLES

Dear Mrs. Mano,
Thanks for the tomato ooththappam recipe. I will try it and let u know the results. I made Kothamalli Biryani yesterday and it was delicious. My family really liked it very much. Thanks for providing us with such wonderful recipes.

Dear Mrs.Mano,
Was wondering if you could post the recipe for kothamalli podi.. just like parupu podi.... thanks in advance....
kritica

Dear Mrs. Mano,

I'm expecting your reply for the query I've posted on page 95.

Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Inimai

Dear mrs. mano,

I made Idiyappam according to your recipe. I used the store bought rice flour. The noodles were become very hard. Could you kindly give a suggestion how to get soft noodles using the store bought rice flour?

I made Ribbon pakoda according to your recipe ( type II). It came out very well. Since I couldn't handle the murukku press, I turned the rest of the flour into thattai by adding few ingredients. It was awesome. Thanks for your recipe! I cannot handle the usual murukku press. It's very hard. Could you suggest any other easy thing which is available in the market? Since you are running a restaurant, You must be knowing some easy tools, I guess.

Thanks for your time and my belated Diwali wishes to you.

Thanks!

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Dear Suganthi!

I felt happy to know that you have tested immediately the koththamalli briyani after seeing my recipe and became successful in it also.
Thanks a lot for the feedback.

Dear Noodles!

Thank you very much for yr effort in compiling all my recipes in a key note. Hope you would have received my mail.

I felt happy to know that yr kuska briyani turned delicious for you.
About mentioning the number of servings- it is a bit difficult for me to put it clearly. The numbers of servings may differ from meals to meals. Sometimes ‘4 servings’ may be enough only for 3. So the person who cooks is the correct person to finalize the number of the servings according to the taste of the guests and according to her experience. That is why I always do not mention the measurement of the salt in my recipes because that also varies according to everyone’s taste. Hope you will understand.

For Kuska briyani-for one cup of rice- you can follow these measurements of the ingredients.
Onion-1 [finely sliced]
Slit Green chillies-2
Cardamom-2
Cinnamon-1 pieces
Curry leaves- 1 arc
Chopped coriander leaves-1 tbsp
Chopped mint leaves- 1tbsp
Cloves-2
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Coconut milk- half cup
Ghee-2 tbsp
Ginger paste-1/4 tsp
Garlic paste-1/4 tsp

Dear arrecipes!

I felt happy to know that yr family liked the koththamalli briyani you have cooked. Thank you very much for the nice feedback.

Dear kritica!

Here I am posting the recipe ‘ Koththamalli thokku ‘for you. This is a dry preparation but not like a powder as ‘Paruppu podi’. This is a traditional recipe which I have learnt from my mother in law. This delicious thokku goes well with curd rice, idli and dosai. I have posted this recipe previously in the guest’s corner of Mr.Hemant’s cookery website.

KOTHAMALLI THOKKU.[CORIANDER THOKKU]

Ingredients:

Coriander leaves- 2 big handfuls.
Red chillies: 15nos.
Split black gram- 3/4 cup[150 gram]
Asafoetida- a small piece
Tamarind- a small lemon size
Gingely oil
Enough salt.

METHOD:

Remove the big stems and wash the coriander leaves well. Coriander leaves with short stems will give more delicious taste. If so, there is no need to leave away the stems. Dry the leaves on a paper or a cloth.
In a kadai, pour 1sp of gingely oil and fry the asafotida piece. Then fry the red chillies for a few seconds. Take away the red chillies. In the same oil, fry the black gram on slow fire to a golden brown colour. This thokku is especially prepared in a ural. But we couldn't get that nowadays. So we can make this in a mixie. Powder the fried ingredients. Take away the powder.
In the mixie, put the tamarind pieces and pour 2 tsp of gingely oil. Run the mixie in high speed for a minute. Open it and see whether the tamarind has been crushed. If not, add one or two spoons of gingelly oil and again grind for a minute. Now add the powder and again run the mixie for a minute. Then add the coriander leaves and run the mixie for 2 minutes. Then open it and add enough salt. Again run the mixie for a minute. Now Kothamalli thokku is ready to serve.

Dear Inimai!

I haven’t noticed yr posting previously and I regret for that. Somehow I have missed it.
Thanks a lot for the Diwali wishes as well as the feedback on ribbon pakoda.
The rice flour you have bought may not be suitable for the idiyappam preparation. Anyhow, roast it slightly and then use it after the flour has been cooled.
Other than the usual murukku press, a few good types of ‘murukku press’ has come in the market. You can get them in any Indian shops. With the new type[I think the brand’s names are ’Anjali and ‘Surya’.] you can hold the murukku press with yr left hand and just give pressure in the handles with the right hand. The dough will easily flow in the oil.

Dear Mrs.Mano,
Thank you for your recipe.. i will try it over the weekend and let u know the results...
thank you once again

Hello Mrs.Mano,

Tried Tomato briyani today... It turned out delicious... The only modi I did was to add skimmed milk+water instead of coconut milk... The recipe was very simple & quick to make...Thanks a lot for such simple & delicious recipe...

Have a doubt... the recipe doesn't call for gin-gar paste... Is that how it is made or should we add gin-gar paste?...

Dear mrs. mano,


Thank you for your suggestions!

hai,
i'm new to this hub.Anyone please send Mrs.mano's cookbook receipe to cynthia_a02@yahoo.com.
Thanks

Hi all,
please do send me mrs.mano's recipe book... to kritica_22@yahoo.com
thanks in advance
Kritica

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Originally Posted by Thattai

Dear Mrs. Mano,

Could you please suggest some different ways to make avarakkai? I usually make a standard sabzi with onions, tomatoes and curry powder or include it as a sambhar vegetable. Any inputs with regards to new ways of making this vegetable would be most welcome.

Thanks and regards,

Thattai

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Dear MRs MAno,

Would appreciate your inputs for the above query.

In the meantime, also made ven pongal and potato and brinjal kothsu as per your recipes. Both turned out very nice. Made mutton biryani also as per the 1st method. This has become a standard in our house, and my husband does not want me to try any other method, as he likes it so much!

Thattai

Thattai, I believe Mrs.Mano has already responded to the above query abt avarakkai... pls browse thry the previous posts...

Dear Mrs. Mano,

This query might sound silly.. but I tasted a wonderful rava kichadi at my friends place yesterday. She also makes kesari that melts in the mouth. When I asked her for the rava: water ratio and asked if she added ghee, she said that she uses 1:1.5 ratio (which is what I use as well) and added only 1 tsp of ghee. I am trying to get my kids to eat south indian food. They binged on the kichadi yesterday. I wish I could make upma/ kichadi that good for them. My upma/ kichadi doesn't turn out that soft.

Could you detail out step by step instructions for yummy upma/kichadi?

My friend seems to think that she doesn't do anything different. :(


Thanks
D