Mrs.Mano's Tamilnadu Delicacies - Part 2

Dear Mrs.Mano,
Can you please post the receipe for pudina thokku?shall we replace kothumalli with pudina in kothumalli thokku?Thank You in advance.

hi ms mano, admire the wonderful work u do. need a person like u to answer all questionswith such understanding. i do have a question for u.when a recipe calls for a cup of red chilles how to measure redchilles . is it approximate?how is it done?thanku in advance

Dear Pr!

You are correct. You must try with a plate with little bigger holes than the usual one which has minute holes as the ragi has a sticky texture. With the ragi idiyappam, you must separate them to strings only when they are cooled and also you must seperate the strings with greased fingers.

Thanks a lot for the nice feedback.

Dear Cynthia!

As you have assumed, you can replace koththamaloli with pothina to prepare pothina thokku. This is the best recipe for koththamalli thokku. Recently I have learnt from a very old relative the recipe of curry leaves thokku or podi. Its taste is really superb. I will post it here soon. You can make the pothina thokku in that style also.

Dear luz!

Thanks for the appreciation.
I always break the red chilli in to two pieces and remove the seeds. Then only I will measure them. Thus it will be easy to fill a cup also.

[tscii]
I am posting here a few interesting recipes which I had tested last week successfully.

MUSHROOM PULAO:


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Ingredients:

Fresh mushrooms- 250gms
Basmati rice- 3 cups
Sliced onions- 2 cups
Slit green chillies-8
Ginger and garlic paste- 2 tsp
Mint leaves- a handful
Coriander leaves [chopped]- a handful
Milk- 1 cup
Thick coconut milk- 1 cup
Curd- 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil- 3 tbsp
Ghee- 4 tbsp

Powder the following ingredients:

2 cardamoms, 2 cloves, fennel seeds- 1 tsp, cinnamon- 1 “piece

PROCEDURE:

Heat a vessel and pour the ghee and the oil. Add the onions and fry till it turns golden brown. Now add the pastes and fry them a little. Wash and Cut the fresh mushroom into two pieces and add them to the onion. Fry them for a few minutes. Add the green chillies, greens, and the curd with a little salt and fry until every ingredient is combined well and a nice aroma floats on the air. Add the powder and fry for a few seconds. Add the milk, coconut milk and 4 cups of water with the soaked rice. When the rice is 3/4th cooked add the salt and mix it well. When the water is almost evaporated, place the rice in the ‘Dhum’ in a pre-heated oven at 160 degC for 20 minutes.


JACKFRUIT SEEDS BRIYANI:


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INGREDIENTS:

Jackfruit seeds- 1 ½ cups
Basmati rice- 2 cups
Small garlic flakes- 15
Finely chopped tomato- 2 cups
Mint leaves- a handful
Chopped coriander- a handful
Coconut milk- 1 cup
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
Oil- 3 tbsp
Ghee- 3 tbsp

Grind the following into a paste:

2 green chillies, ½ tsp fennel seeds, cardamom-1, clove-1, cinnamon- a small piece, 1 tbsp- curd, cashew nuts- 3, shredded ginger- ½ tsp

PROCEDURE:

Wash and soak the rice with 3 cups of water. Remove the upper white cover of the jackfruit seeds and boil them in lots of water for 15 to 20 minutes until they become soft. Drain the water and cut the seeds lengthwise in to two. Heat a vessel and pour the oil and the ghee. Add the onions and fry them well. Then add the ground paste along with the turmeric powder and the garlic flakes. Fry them well.. Add the tomatoes and the jackfruit seeds with a little salt and cook till until the oil floats on the surface. Add the greens and fry for a few seconds. Add the rice with the water and also the coconut milk with enough salt and cook on medium fire.. When the water is almost evaporated, keep the briyani in ‘Dhum’ in a pre-heated oven at 160 degC for 20 minutes.

Dear Mrs Mano

Thank you for your continuous support and advice in the kitchen. I am amongst the thousands of hubbers who benefit from it. Please keep up the good work.

I wanted to ask you this question for a long time but the time has only come now. Is there any difference between masala vadai and kadalai vadai? I am use kadali parupu and grind it in various sizes like coarse, fine, full and mix it with onion, chilli flakes etc to make it. It comes nice and crispy. But here in Sydney, the Srilankan food shops sells really crispy kadali vadai and they even stay crispy the next day. Is there any secret ingredient like small amount of thoor dhal or any other makes this? They are big and flat at the edges. I am not sure how they make it big. Please advice. Thank you.

Hello Mrs. MAno,

Hope that you are doing fine. We have been travelling for a bit and that's why no time to try your recipes. Even now, we are still settling back.

But the other day I wanted something different to go with dosas in the morning other than the regular chutney/sambhar. So I tried your tomato coconut kuzhambu. And it was just perfect. It was very easy to make and it tasted very good. It was good with rice as well.

It also seems to be a good base in which to add paneer/mushroom/potatoes etc. I am going to try that out next time. Thanks yet again for an easy and tasty recipe.

Dear Shanthy!

Thanks a lot for the nice feedback and the appreciation.
I do not know anything about kadalai vadai. May be the vadai you have bought contains more thoor dal than the usual Bengal gram we use for kadalai paruppu vadai. Because of the thoor dal, the vadai is crispy.

Dear Thattai!

Thank you for your nice feedback on ‘thakkali coconut kuzhambu’. In fact this recipe is 30 years old and I have learnt this at the time of marriage. It is nice to know that you have enjoyed this recipe.