Halu Menasina Saaru | Pepper Rasam made using Milk: An excellent home remedy for common cold

As kids whenever we got cold or sore throat, our mom would make this rasam. She made sure we eat it and gave it as a drink too. Honestly when I was a kid, I didn't enjoy eating this. I gave innumerable reasons to avoid eating this rasam. What goes around comes around, isn't it? Now, my son does the same thing that I did to my mom. I really feel sorry for her now.

Anyways, that's for another day. After I started making this rasam for myself, I enjoy eating, drinking and even bathing with it. You know what I mean ;)

This rasam will wake up your senses and all the blocked sinuses will start running.

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Serves : 2 to 3

Ingredients:
For the rasam:
Water: About 3 cups
Salt: As needed
Milk: About 1/4 cup, refer notes
Jaggery or brown sugar: 2 tsp
Spice powder: 3 tbsp

For the spice powder:
Pepper corns: 1/2 or 3/4 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Coriander seeds: 1/4 tsp, optional
Dry coconut : 1 tbsp, grated or powdered

For the tempering:
Coconut oil: 1 tsp, or any oil of your choice.
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 4-6 nos, torn
Asafoetida: a big pinch

Method:
Dry roast the pepper corns, cumin seeds and coriander seeds until they leave out a nutty flavor. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool.

Once cool, blend together the roasted spices with dry coconut. Make a fine powder.

Mix together water, spice powder, salt and jaggery. Allow it to boil on a low-medium heat for 15 mins. Your house will smell amazing during this time!!

After the liquid has thickened up a bit, add the milk.

Allow the mixture to boil again for another 5-7 mins.
Meantime, prepare the tempering. Add coconut oil to a small wok. When oil is hot, add the mustard and cumin seeds. When the seeds crackle, add the curry leaves. Let the curry leaves wilt and turn off the heat. Add the asafoetida/hing after turning off the heat.

Pour this tempering over the boiling rasam and close the lid of the rasam.
The tempering will be infused in the rasam making it more flavorful.
Serve it hot as a drink, or with rice and a side dish.

Notes:

• I mostly use whole milk to make this rasam. If you are using fat free or 1% milk, you might want to reduce the water and add more milk accordingly.
• Do not use hot milk to this. Always use milk that is at room temperature, or else milk will curdle.
• Also do not add milk in the first step. Let the spices boil in water first.

Quickest bisi bele bath | Pressure cooker bisi bele bath | Cracked wheat bisi bele bath

This is a diabetic friendly bisi bele bath as it is made with cracked wheat (godhi nucchu or daliya) instead of the rice. It's also one of the quickest one pot meal. It's nutritious, healthy and a complete meal by itself.

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Serves:3-4 

Ingredients:
Broken wheat - 1 cup
Pigeon pea dal / Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Mixed Vegetables - 2 cups (Carrot, beans, green peas, potatoes, chow-chow, beets), refer notes
Surti lilwa/avrekalu : 1/4 cup
Tamarind - small lime/lemon sized
Jaggery - According to taste, optional
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida: 1 big pinch
Salt - According to taste
Homemade bisi bele bath powder: About 1/4th cup
Oil: 2 tsp

Ingredients for tempering (Tadka):
Peanuts - 1 table spoon
Cashew Nuts - 4-6
Ghee - 2 table spoons
Red Chilly - 1, broken
Curry Leaves :4-6 nos, torn
Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp
Asafoetida: a big pinch
Bell peppers/capsicum - 1 finely chopped (Optional)

Method:

Wash the broken wheat and toor dal together in running water. Drain the water from the mixture and let it soak for about 10 mins.

Meantime soak the tamarind in the hot/warm water. We need the extract of the tamarind. (PS: The other item in the photo is the jaggery syrup or brown sugar syrup).

(PS: 1. Soaked Tamarind, 
        2. Jaggery syrup
        3. Bisi bele bath powder
        4. Turmeric
        5. Salt
        6. Asafoetida)

Heat oil in the pressure cooker. When oil is hot, add the broken wheat and toor dal. Saute the broken wheat and dal for couple of minutes. 

To that add the chopped vegetables, surti lilwa, and mix well.

Add about 5 cups of water to the pressure cooker. 

Add the salt, tamarind extract, jaggery, asafoetida, turmeric powder and the bisi bele bath powder to the cooker. Mix well. 

Close the pressure cooker lid and cook the mixture on a  medium-high heat for 4 whistles. Turn off the heat and let the pressure release. It'll take a minimum of 15 mins for the pressure to release. 

Meantime prepare the seasoning. Heat ghee (clarified butter) on a small pan/wok. When ghee is hot, add the mustard seeds, followed by peanuts. Saute the peanuts on a low-medium heat. When peanuts turn golden brown, add the curry leaves, asafoetida and the bell peppers. Saute the bell peppers till they turn soft yet crunchy. 

Release the pressure from the cooker and pour the seasoning over the cooked bisi bele bath. Mix well and serve. (Refer notes)

Notes:

• I add about a tbsp of finely chopped beets (beetroot) to get a rich color to the bisi bele bath.
• If the cooked mixture is too hard, add a cup of boiling water, mix well and cook again for a couple of minutes.
• I use the ratio 1 cup of broken wheat + lentils to 3 cups of water. Half cup on the higher side wont hurt.
• If you are using the Instant pot, first saute as usual in saute mode. Then turn it on in manual mode (sealing postion ON) for 11 mins. Tada!

Noodles and Vegetables with Honey Ginger Sauce

Am I the only one who crave for noodles when sick with cold and sore throat? I love this noodles with honey-ginger sauce and it is perfect to soothe my sore throat too. Honey and ginger are extensively used in Ayurvedic medicine to relieve cold, cough and sore throat. I got this sauce idea from one of the recipe books.

The twist here is..I'm using angel hair pasta as noodles.

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 20-25 mins
Serves: 4 to 6 people

Ingredients:
Angel hair pasta or any other Chinese noodles: 1 lb or 500 grams
Salt: As needed
Oil: 2 tbsp + 1 tsp, divided use
Water: As needed to boil the pasta
Finely chopped green beans: 1/2 cup
Julienned carrots: 1/4 cup
Bell peppers: 3/4 cup, I used red and green here.
Finely chopped cabbage: 3 tbsp
Toasted sesame seeds: 2 tsp, for garnishing

For the sauce:
Honey: 3 tbsp
Grated ginger: 1 tbsp
Light soya sauce: 3 tbsp
Vinegar: 2 tbsp, refer notes
Oil: 1 tsp
Red chili paste/Sriracha: 1 tbsp, adjust according to your needs, refer the notes
Pepper powder: 1/4 tsp

Method: 
Combine together all the items mentioned for the sauce. Mix well and let it sit for 30-45 mins.

Add water to a broad sauce pan. When water starts boiling, add the salt, 1 tsp oil and the raw noodles.

Cook the noodles as per the package instructions. Stir the noodles occasionally. 
When the noodles are cooked, drain the water from the noodles and rinse the noodles in cold water immediately. 

Keep the noodles in the cold water until further use.
Heat oil in a broad wok/pan on a high heat. When oil is hot, add the finely chopped cabbage.  Saute it for couple of minutes. 

Next add the chopped beans and carrots. Saute it until they are cooked and yet firm. 

Follow it by bell peppers. Saute for a minute. 

Meantime, drain the noodles thoroughly and keep it ready.

Add the prepared sauce to the wok/pan and allow the sauce to boil. 

Mix in the noodles to the hot sauce. Adjust the seasoning and toss the noodles. Make sure that the sauce coats the noodles pretty well. 

Add the toasted sesame seeds and toss again. 

Serve the noodles hot. You won't need any side to go with this noodles. It tastes good as is.

Notes:

• Rinsing the noodles in cold water halts the further cooking of the noodles. We do not want the noodles to be sticky and mushy. They should be cooked, soft and separate.  
• Keep the heat medium-high when sauteing the vegetables.
• You could replace vinegar with lemon juice. 
• I didn't have red chili sauce, hence used Sriracha. Red chili sauce would be nicer to use. 
• I like my noodles sweet n spicy, hence I add 1 tbsp of chili sauce. You please adjust according to your needs.

Strawberry Sasive | Strawberries in coconut-mustard sauce

 Life is taking unexpected turns from the last few months or so. I'm still coming to terms with it. We are having not so good days and hoping that the ray of light is not far away. All I can say is, God is helping us and he will definitely be with us.

Hopefully, I will start blogging frequently from now on. We went strawberry picking and got a whole basket of strawberries home. So, I started experimenting and made lots of new recipes using strawberries. I'll try to post all of them. 

One of the first recipes that I tried was this strawberry sasive, I loved it thoroughly. 

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 5-7 mins

Serves:4-6

Ingredients:

Strawberries:6-8 nos, refer notes

Salt: As needed

Water: About 1/4 cup

Whisked yogurt: 1/4 cup
Jaggery: 2 tsp, optional

For coconut-mustard paste:

Fresh or frozen coconut: 1/4 cup, grated

Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp

Green chili: 2 nos, according to taste

Water: As needed

For tempering/oggarane:
Cooking Oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves: 3-5 nos, torn
Red chili: 1 no, broken (optional)

Method:
Wash the strawberries thoroughly and roughly chop them.
Add about 1/4 cup of water, salt, jaggery to the chopped strawberries and bring it to a boil.

Strawberries get cooked pretty fast. In less than 5 minutes, strawberries will be done.
Allow the strawberries to cool.
Make a fine paste of the items mentioned under the coconut paste. Add very little water. You could use the water used for boiling the strawberries.

Add the cooked strawberries to the coconut paste and crush it coarsely.
Scoop out the mixture to a bowl. Add the whisked yogurt. Mix well.

Prepare the tempering. Add oil in a small pan. When oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. When mustard seeds crackle, add the cumin seeds. When cumin seeds turn golden brown, add the curry leaves and red chili. Remove from the heat and pour it over the saasive prepared. Mix well and serve with steamed rice.

Notes:
Do not use very sour strawberries. Try to use sweeter ones. If the strawberries are very sour, try using 3 or 4 only. 

Pudina Chutney | Mint Chutney | Pudina Thogayal : Iyengar Style

Pudina Thogayal is a South Indian version of the mint chutney that is popularly consumed as a side dish for steamed rice. It is very flavorful and goes well with so many South Indian items like dosa, akki rotti, or uttappam. I make this chutney mostly in summers as I harvest mint once in 15 days (I grow it in my balcony garden). Also, mint helps cool down your body in hot and humid summer days.

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Serves: Makes about 1.5 cups of thogayal

Notes: 

• Pick only the leaves from the mint leaves and discard the stem
• Cilantro can be washed and used along with the tender stems. 
• The stems of the cilantro adds volume to the thogayal and also makes it flavorful.
• Do not add more water while making a coarse paste. The thogayal needs to be thick. Add a teaspoon of water at a time and continue grinding.

Ingredients:

Pudina | Mint leaves:1.5 cups tightly packed, refer notes

Coriander leaves | Cilantro: 1/2 cup, refer notes

Dry coconut: 1/4 cup

Green chilies: 4 nos, adjust accordingly

Tamarind: a big grape sized or about 1 tsp of thick tamarind extract

Urad dal | Black gram dal | Uddinabele: 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp

Oil: 1 tsp

Salt: As needed

Water: As needed

For tempering:
Oil: 2 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 4 nos, torn

Broken red chili: 1 no

Method:
Wash the mint and coriander leaves thoroughly and roughly chop them.

In a broad wok, heat oil. When oil is hot, roast the urad dal until golden brown.

When the dal is golden brown, add the green chili and saute for 15 secs.

Add the roughly chopped mint and cilantro. Saute till the leaves wilt and become soft.

When leaves are soft, add the turmeric powder, salt and the tamarind. Turn off the heat and allow the leaves to cool for about 5 minutes.

Scoop out the cooked mint mixture to a blender or mixie jar. Add the grated dry coconut and make a coarse paste out of it. Add couple of tablespoons of water, if needed.
Heat oil in a wok. When oil is hot, add the mustard seeds.

When seeds crackle, add curry leaves and broken red chili.
Scoop out the chutney paste to the wok that has the tempering and heat the chutney until the extra water is absorbed. Cook the thogayal on a low heat for about 3-5 mins.

Turn off the heat. Allow it to cool and serve it with rice or dosa.