Indulge In The Taste

Boil about 1 litre of a milk stirring in occasionally so that it does not overflow !! When it becomes almost 1/3rd and begins to form thin long lumps, add about 200 g of sugar. After the sugar gets dissolved, add a crushed pod of cardamon. Chill and serve with a dash of clarified butter.

My favourite dish - that i make it once a month regularly. Adapted from http://www.aayisrecipes.com. Ingredients: Serves 1-2 Medium sized Apple (should be sweet to taste) - 1 shredded/cut into thin pieces Sugar - 4 tbsp Cardamon pod - 1 Food color - a pinch, optional Any coarsely powdered nut - 2 tbsp Unsalted butter/clarified butter - 1 tbsp Method: Heat the butter in non stick kadai. Add the apples and cook till its tender and caramelized. Add in the sugar and mix until dissolved. Add the rest of ingredients except food color and cook for 2-3 min. Add the food color - preferably kesar color and cook for about a min. Serve garnished with carondas.

Ingredients: Serves 2 Pumpkin - 150 g, skin scrapped and cut into cubes Onion , finely chopped - 1 Cinnamon - 1 small stick Unsalted butter - 1 tsp Powdered pepper - to garnish Salt - to taste Water/any stock/milk - as required Method: Boil the pumpkin till done. Heat the butter in a kadai. Add the cinnamon and onion. Mix this with mashed pumpkin & water/ blend with the pumpkin with water. Garnish with pepper and serve hot.

Ingredients: Serves 2 Violet unstriped Eggplants - 6 medium, cut into medium long strips Oil - 3 tbsp Soy sauce - any kind - 1 tsp Vinegar - preferably balsamic - 1 tsp Salt- to taste Water - as required Powdered pepper - to garnish Method: Heat about 100 ml of water in a non stick kadai. Add in the sliced eggplants & salt. Cook till they are almost done. Add in the oil, once the water is gone. Fry till the eggplant becomes tender on medium flame. But, dont' roast or mash. Add in the soy sauce and vinegar. Stir for a min and transfer to the serving bowl. Serve hot garnished with powdered pepper.

This is very simple. Shred about 200g of cabbage with a good length. Heat a tsp of salted butter in a non stick pan. Add in the cabbage. Add salt to taste. Add few spoons of water and cook till the cabbage begins to turn tender. It should be crisp - not tender. It takes about a min or two. Spread on a bowl/plate. Garnish with fresh ground pepper and a dash of lemon/vinegar.

Well, the name itself suggests the ingredients very well !! Anyways.. Ingredients: Serves 1 Egg - 2 Salted butter - 1 tbsp Cream/Milk - 1 tbsp Powdered pepper - 1 tsp Salt - a pinch Method: Heat the butter in a non stick pan. Break and add the eggs. Scramble it well. When it is almost done, add in the milk/cream. Stir for some 20 seconds & transfer to the breakfast bowl. Sprinkle the pepper powder and serve. I adopted it from somewhere I really dont remember :)

Again a pepper based dish !! Ingredients: Serves 2 Long beans - 20-30 washed and cut into 1 inch long pieces Kuzhambu powder - 1 tbsp Garlic - 3 minced Salt - to taste Coconut powder - 1 tbsp Urad dhal and Mustard seeds- 1 tsp Water - for cooking the beans Oil - 3 tbsp Method: Heat oil in a non stick kadai. Saute the Urad dhal and Mustard seeds. Add the garlic and fry for a min. Add the beans. Fry for 5 mins. Add salt and water. Cook till the beans are done in medium flame, with lid on. Once, the water is all gone, add the Kuzhambu powder/paste and coconut. Fry for 2 min and it is ready to be served with melagu kuzhambu rice - my lunch menu :)

This is another innovation out of the kuzhambu paste - sans coconut !! Please check out the recipe for making this kuzhambu's paste from my other post - http://indulgeinthetaste.blogspot.com/2009/11/melagu-kuzhambu.html , omitting the coconut and complementing with one more tbsp of channa dhal. Ingredients: Serves 2-3 Kabuli channa - 150 g soaked overnight with 300 ml water Garlic - 10 pods peeled Tamarind pulp - 150 ml Kuzhambu paste - 3-4 tbsp Urad dhal & Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Chilli powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - to taste Water - for consistency Oil - 3 tbsp Fried curry leaves - to garnish Method: Heat a kadai and add the oil. Saute the Urad dhal and Mustard seeds. Add the garlic and drained kabuli channa and fry for a min. Add the masala powders (turmeric, chilli & Coriander). Add the tamarind pulp, salt and water to get a watery consistency. Cover with a lid and cook till the channa is done. Then, add t

Well this is supposed to be a very authentic dish. But, believe me I didn't ask any one for any recipe. I made it out of my "own instinct" and it came out yummy well :) To prepare the kuzhambu paste , the following is the recipe: Ingredients: To serve two Peppercorn - 2 1/2 tbsp Dried red chillies - 4 long ones Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Channa dhal - 1 tbsp Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 tsp Coconut powder- 3-4 tbsp Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp Oil - to saute Method: In a kadai, heat a tsp of oil. Add all the ingredients except coconut and fry for a min in medium flame. Add the coconut and fry until coconut begins to turn golden yellow. Cool and grind it to a little coarse mixture. Here comes the kuzhambu. Ingredients: Tamarind pulp - 150 ml (should be thick and concentrated) Garlic - 10 pods - optional Urad dhal and Mustard seeds- 1 tsp Chilli powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - to taste Water - for consistency Oil - 3 tb

It has been a lonnnggggggggg 2 weeks ;( loads of work, whew.. Still some pending ;( Still I'm back with some very easy dishes, for eg., this Melagu Paal - Pepper milk. As you know pepper is known to be subsiding cold. Preparation: After boiling milk, take 150 ml and again boil in simmer flame. Add 10-15 whole peppercorns or 5 crushed ones. Add 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder. Boil for 2 mins. After switching off the heat, let it stand for 5-10 mins, so that the pepper will get soaked. When it is warm enough to drink, just filter the pepper and enjoy a warm, soothing drink - perfect for a sore throat.

Ingredients: Serves 2 Mint leaves - from a small bunch of around 50 stems Coconut - scrapped about 100 gms Small onions- peeled 5 Green chill -1 Red chilli - 1 Channa dhal - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp A little piece of Ginger Salt to taste Oil - 2 tbsp Water - as required Method: Heat 1 tbsp oil in a kadai. Fry channa dhal for a while. Add in the mustard. Add onions & chillies. Fry over low flame for 2-3 mins. Add the ginger, mint leaves & coconut. Fry for 2-3 mins. Cool this , add salt and grind to a fine paste using water as required. Serve with a dash of oil for dosa / idli.

Fill a 200 ml glass half with cold water + lemon juice from 1 lemon. Add sugar compensating the other half also + pinch of salt. Add crushed/powdered mint leaves. Stir well so that sugar completely dissolves. Top the rest of glass with chilled soda and enjoy the drink :)

Ingredients: Capsicum - green/red coloured - 1 large sized, diced Onion - 1 large size diced Ginger-garlic-green chill paste - 1 tbsp (take in a ratio 2:1:1) Tomato - 1 medium sized , grinded to a paste Turmeric, Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp each Chilli powder - 1 tsp Salt - to taste Oil - 3 tbsp Coriander leaves - to garnish Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Method: Heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a kadai. Add onions and capsicum. Fry for 2 mins. Keep aside. Again heat oil in the same kadai (make use of leftover oil if any). Saute with cumin seeds. Add Ginger-garlic-green chill paste. Fry till rawness goes off. Add tomato paste. Fry for 5 mins. Add Turmeric, Coriander powder, Chilli powder & Salt. Fry for a min. Add 4-5 tbsp of water and cook till it becomes dry. Add onion & capsicum. Fry for 5 more mins in medium flame followed by a min or so in high flame till it becomes dry again. Do not add water as capscicum gives off water when cooked. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with

Ingridients: All purpose flour - 200 g, 50 g for dusting Salt - 1/2 tsp Oil - 1 tbsp Warm water - as required Clarified butter - as required Method: Mix the flour, salt. Use little amounts of water and make a firm dough. Add oil and knead it well till it becomes even in softness. Keep the dough ball covered with a vessel for 15 mins. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each dough using the extra flour for dusting. Heat tawa/griddle. Make the rotis in medium flame. When they are done, cook them directly on the medium flame for 2-3 secs/each side. Take aside and coat with clarified butter. Serve hot.

Ingredients: Medium sized eggplants - 4 Very finely chopped onion - 1 large sized Very finely chopped tomato - 1 large sized Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsbp Green chilli paste - 1/2 tsp Green chilli - 1 split Turmeric, Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp each Chilli powder - 1 tsp Salt - to taste Oil - 3 tbsp Coriander leaves - to garnish Mustard + urad dhal - 1 tsp Method: Wash and dry the brinjal/wipe with a cloth. Rub them with oil and roast them in open low-medium flame till they become dark and the skin starts to peel. Tip: You can use the stem part to rotate them often to get the even roasting. When done, completely immerse in hot water for 10 mins. Take out from water & peel the skin, mash them completely. No need to use blender as they would be very tender by now. Heat remaining oil in a kadai. Saute with Mustard + urad dhal. Add chilli paste, ginger garlic paste and chillis. Fry for 2 mins. Add onions and cook till they are tender. Add tomatoes and fry. Add salt

Ingredients: Caronda - 150 g Sugar - 1 tbsp Honey - 2 tbsp Bread slices - toasted with unsalted clarified butter - 4 Method: Grind the carondas finely. Add sugar and honey. Mix well. Spread over the bread and enjoy the sweeeeeeeeeeeeet sandwich !! Easy, isnt it !!