Making Modhakam Flour

Hi Readers,
I have taken to diligently watching tv in my enforced bed rest - 10 more weeks to go. My favourite programs are of course cookery programs. Today I watched Mrs Revathi  Shanmugams program on Jaya TV. Since vinayaka Chathurthi is coming in a few days, all shows concerning cookery are showing some form of Kozhukattais or the other. I usually note these recipes down by typing them simultaneously in a text file on my laptop, but today, our luch was late and we were having lunch while this program is on. I love the way Mrs Revathi Shanmugam explains the recipes and also what may go wrong if we try to take shortcuts, I like her simple sarees, sweet smile and matter of fact way of teaching things. She reminds me so much of my friends mother, who is also from chettinad (devakottai/naatarasangottai).
My hubby likes these kind of things. We used to get them almost an avalanche of sweets and Kaaram used to descend on us as we were the only Tamil Muslim Family living in the colony, so I never had to make these items at home myself, though I was usually there lending a hand when aunties were preparing these items.
For my mother in law it was a different situation, My FIL was a Forest officer, she had total 8 Children with 6 Boys. around ten families used to live in the middle of the forest. So the amount that would come as presents from the neighbours would be like a drop in the well with 6 growing boys. So every festival, she and my two sister in laws, prepared all the palagaarams being prepared in the neighbouring houses for every festival, be it hindu, muslim or christian. My husband says they also helped out, but I am skeptical seeing that making him cook is like pulling hens teeth. Anyway, enough of memories and coming to the procedure for Modhakam flour as told by Mrs Revathi Shanmugam.

Soak Raw rice for two hours
Drain water well and lay out to dry . The rice should be damp and not fully dried up
Use the whipper blade in the mixie to break the rice into rawa consistency.
Seive the rawa to seperate the flour and the rawa.
Taost the flour and rawa seperately and let them cool.
Mix together and keep for preparing modhakams.

I could not note the amounts, but heres the procedure for the actual modhakams.

Dissolve jaggery in water on low heat and strain through seive to remove impurities. Add to warm coconut milk and let it come to boil. Then add moong dal cooked till al dente. Coconut cut into fine pieces.
When it came to this stage itself, my husband was looking longingly at the TV screen and desperately at my bedridden condition, I was drooling though I was having Rice with sambhar and kovakkai poriyal - a favourite combo in my house.
Coming back to the recipe,
Add elaichi powder, then lower heat to medium low add the prepared modhakam flour and stir well with a wire whisk till there are no lumps.Lower heat to Sim and cover and cook for fifteen mins. After fifteen mins, switch off heat. While still warm shape the dough into Modhakam Shapes (like dimsum shape or like pidi kozhukattais - your wish). Arrange on a tray in the steamer and steam for another ten to fifteen mins.

For some specific points to be noted: Since the rawa is cooking in jaggery mix, it requires more time to cook than th other type of Kozhukattais. That's why first cooking is 15 mins and then again steaming for fifteen mins.
You can also add grated coconut instead of coconut pieces.
The water should be boiling in the steamer when you place the tray in it. It greatly improves the texture of the Kozhukattais this way.
To cook Paasi Paruppu (mung dal) al dente stage - dry roast 1/2 cup moong dal till a nice aroma comes, soak in water. add to boiling water and cook for not more than 5 mins. drain and keep in a tighly covered container so that it retains its steam. You will get perfectly cooked dal which does not stick to each other. You can use the same procedure to make Paasi paruppu sundal.
You can also used Chana dal or cashew nuts or badam instead of Mung dal, but the traditional and original recipe is with either mung dal or chana dal.
This is a good recipe for newbies who find it difficult to shape kozhukattais but want to do something for Vinayaka chaturthi.

So you can see why I like watching Mrs Revathi Shanmugams programs, all this information in around fifteen mins of tv time and there was another recipe also. red rice kozhukattai - I cannot type any more, my back is paining again.

This is for information only. Instead of storing in the personal laptop, I am sharing on my blog for everybody. So no Photos. I will upload the photos when I try out this dish, I can get the amounts from my friends mother. But if you have the recipe, do keep in minds the above tips given by Mrs Revathi Shanmugam.

Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi to all my friends.
 

Blogging Break- Bed Rest By Doctors Orders

Hello Friends, just when Ramadaan has started and I was fully prepared to join many of the wonderful events during this festve season, my lifr has gone upside down. Due to Pregnancy related health complications, I have been ordered strict bed rest till delivery. My thanks to the almighty that the right people were around me to save my baby. Also a thanks to my wonderful hubby who is taking care of me inspite of fasting for such long hours and working full time. My daughter is showing me how grownup she is. I will not be able to post any recipes anytime soon. But uff! its only one day since I have returned from the hospital and already I am itching to get out of bed. how will I last till november end?
Please pray for me.

Ramadaan Kareem - Mutton Sukka Masala (Dry Curry)

Today night starts the holy month of Ramadaan this year. Ramadaan Kareem to everybody. May this blessed month bring to you all the blessings, forgiveness and prosperity to you and your loved ones.

Our standard menu for suhur like lunch menu on any other day and dinner has breakfast items. For Iftar we normally have Nonbu kanji, Bajji's or pakoras or similar item, rose milk, some sweet variety, Fresh fruits and fruit juice. I will be posting my recipes soon. Today I am starting with a dry mutton curry. The pieces are well cooked, spicy, and keep upto four days in the fridge. And my hubby dosen't mind having this everyday for three days in a row. So for the first few days of Ramadaan when my body is adapting to the changed schedules, it is a great recipe for me.

This is a dry curry, great as a side dish for plain rice and curry or as a filling for chappatis, naan, khubz etc..It is a standard first suhur dish for each ramadaan in my house as it is difficult to have an apetite for the first few days till our bodies get used to eating before sunrise. Such spicy dishes help to get the rest of the food inside. Nowadays experts are recommending that people should have a light suhur, light iftar etc. It is not practical in our family as my Husband is a hard working man and needs the energy to work through out the day on one meal. Inspite of our diet we always loose around four kg of weight every ramadaan. It may be different for you, so take care during ramadaan and keep an eye on the calories consumed. Drink a lot of water to rehydrate your body after iftar.

Ingredients:

Mutton - 1/2 kg cut into 1 inch cubes
Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Salt - 2 tsp or to taste
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper Jeera Powder - 1 tsp
Chilli Powder - 2-3 tsp
Sesame Oil - 3 tbsp
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

Mix all the items except coconut oil and put in a pressure cooker. Add 1/4 cup of water and cook till done. Open the cooker, Check for salt and chilli level. If required add more at this stage.Let it simmer till all the liquid is dried up. Add coconut oil and stir to mix well and remove from heat.

Repost: Strawberry Dates Milkshake

I am reposting this recipe for the event Ramadan Friendly Foods  hosted by The Halal Foodie

For the recipe please click Strawberry Dates Milkshake

Repost: Chicken Cutlets

I am reposting this recipe for Ramadan Friendly Foods event hosted by The Halal Foodie

For teh recipe please click .http://simplewomansimplelife.blogspot.com/2012/03/chicken-cutlet-and-womans-day.html

Gulab Jamuns (Using Milk Powder)

GULAB JAMUN

Gulab Jamuns are everybody's favourite desert as far as I know. Recently my daughter had food festival in her school. Students we re supposed to take their choice of prepared dish to the school. All the dishes are arranged as  a buffet and the teachers and the students help themselves to what they want. My daughter wanted me to make Chicken Cutlets but in my current condition, getting up early in the morning and frying a big batch of cutlets is a definite no-no, so I made Gulab jamun, which can be made the previous night and taken to the school in the morning. I also sent disposable bowls and spoons to fascilitate self serving.  It was a hit and the whole batch around 60 jamuns were polished off in notime. My daughter returned with a big grin on her face.

So here's the recipe:
For the jamuns:

Milk Powder - 1 cup
Egg - 1 nos
Ghee - 2 tsp +1 tsp
Milk -  2-3 tbsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 pinch
Salt - 1 pinch
Maida - 3 tsp

For the jeera (Sugar Syrup)
Sugar 1 cup
water - 2 cups
cardomom - 3-4 crushed
Rose Water (optional) 2-3 tbsp

First make the jeera - Dissolve sugar in the water and bring to boil with crushed cardomoms and add rose water and keep covered till the jamuns are ready.

For the jamuns : In a bowl put the milk powder, add maida, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk dry with a whisk or fork to mix the ingredients thoroughly. In another bowl break the egg, add two tsps ghee and 2 - 3 tbsp milk. whisk well to a creamy colour, but not frothy. Pour this into the milk powder mixture and mix with a fork first, then bring together with your fingers greased with a little ghee to a smooth ball. With the help of a little ghee or oil make small marble sized balls and keep aside on a greased plate.

Heat oil to medium heat and fry the jamuns on low to medium flame till golden brown. Add the jamuns to the syrup and let them soak in the syrup for a minimum of 1/2 hour.

You can serve as such warm or chilled or with Vanilla Ice cream or Poli.

One cup milk powder will give you around 30 jamuns 4 cm diameter.

Soft Syrupy Little Balls of Delight

As you can see from the cut peice, the jamuns are evenly cooked and even grained - no lumps, uncooked portions.

I am sending this to The Halal Foodies Ramadan Friendly Recipes event

Idiyappam (String Hoppers)

Soft Fluffy Idiyappam

When we were in Trivandrum, our house was a main stopping point for all the relatives going to and fro to the gulf states. We heard of many wacky stories about gulf returnees and how they were treated on their arrival by their relatives and how they fare when they depart from India. One famous narration goes this way: One fellow comes from gulf on leave. A passerby asks a person from the recieving  group : Dosaiyaano, aapamaano, idiyappamaano? (Is he a Dosai or an Aappam or an Idiyaappam), the man naturally asks what do you mean? The reply comes pat: Well Dosai means to get cooked two ways so he has come with a return ticket, Aappam is cooked only on one side, so he has come witha one way ticket and returning may be delayed, idiyappam making involves a long and complicated process so his visa has complications and his job is in trouble. So whats his case?

Hmm. Trust malayalees to see the humour in any situation. Well, you must be thinking why I told this anectode. The fact is in my opinion, Idiyappam was an easy to prepare dish, so how come it is considered to be a lengthy process? Then only I came to know that there were two methods of making idiyappam. With roasted rice flour and other with rice batter.

The method most followed in my family is with roasted rice flour. We used to prepare the flour regularly at home in thiruvananthapuram, infact there is a huge iron kadai and a big wooden spatula just for that purpose, but now it is in storage as no one uses it anymore.

In UAE, we had enough relatives coming and going to bring us a supply of homemade idiayappam maavu, prepared by my Maami (MIL). Here we have to rely on store bought flour, they are quite good, but I somehow felt that my maami made better idiyappam flour, I guess thats a psychological thing.

For three persons, you need:

2 cups Idiyappam flour
Boiling water a required
salt to taste
little oil

Put the roasted rice flour in a wide bottommed vessel with a stable bottom. Stir in the salt well. POur in the boiling water little by little stirring with the back of a ladle till the dough comes together. The correct consistency (padham) is that the dough should not stick when you press with a wet finger. Oil the idiyappam press and plates. Press through the mould onto the plates and steam in a steamer. I use the standard idli plate and steamer for this. Steam for a maximum of eight to ten mins. Keep in a warm covered vessel or an insulated caserole. Serve with any stew, Mutton Curry, Chicken curry, Maasi Kuzhambu , coconut chutney, vegetable curries or for sweet lovers with fresh coconut milk flavoured with caromoms and sweetened with sugar. or with sugar coconut & banana.
It can also be made into lemon idiyappam, Tamarind idiyappam etc.. like the different varieties of mixed rice. I will post the recipes for those as time permits.

Idiyappam is an easily digested food and as you can see very versatile. You can have idiyappam daily for weeks with different flavours on each day. Also since the flour can be kept in stock, it is a tiffin which can be made for unexpected guests.

Repost : Corriander Carrot Whole Wheat Dosai

I am reposting this recipe for the event Know Your Flours - Whole Wheat Flours by Jagruti. I am sending Corriander Carrot Whole Wheat Dosai.

http://simplewomansimplelife.blogspot.com/2011/06/corriander-carrot-whole-wheat-dosai.html

Whole Wheat Dosai With Carrot & Corriander

Maasi Kuzhambu (Maldives Dry Fish Curry)

This is one curry that transports me to my childhood vacations in my mooma's (maternal Grandmother) house. It was to my eyes at that time of life at the end of the world. We had to walk around two km from the bus stop to reach the bungalow. But those times were some of the happiest times of my life.

Maasi Kuzhambu with Idiyappam..mmm delicious.

Maasi is preserved Tuna fish. It is mainly produced in Maldives. The red meat tuna is boiled whole in fish stock, then the flesh is taken apart in large chunks and smoke dried. This results in a horn shaped piece looking like half burnt piece of log.So the whole piece is called kombu (meaning horn in tamil). Good quality Maasi costs around 700 to 900 rs per Kg, so dont be temped by a cheap deal, because that may be a duplicate made from white meat fish. You will know the difference only when you grind it for use.

When split into flakes, the inside is red in colour and there is no strong smell. I usually bring powdered maasi from India. In Middle East, you can find it in stores selling Srilankan speciality foods.

Some people toast maasi before using it thinking it is like kariwaadu (salted dried fish). But that is not necessary as it is already cooked. Anyway, coming to the recipe:

Ingredients:
Maasi Powder - 3 tbsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Pepper jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Cocnut milk powder - 4 tbsp heaped.
Salt to taste
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Sombu (sonf) - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2 nos finely chopped.
Oil - 2 tbsp

Heat oil in a kadai or pan, add sombu & jeera, then add curry leaves. Add finely chopped onion and fry till golden. Add salt and maasi powder. stir a little and then add chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, pepper jeera powder and turmeric powder. Add water and let it boil a while. Dissolve coconut milk powder in warm water and add to the boiling curry. let it boil a few more mins and the curry is ready.

This is served mainly with idiyappam. It also goes well with aappam and my husband even likes it with plain rice and pappadom.

Maasi is an unusual item not known by many fish eating people even. Even in TVM, many of our friends did not know what it was. It is a great alternative to karuwaadu as it is not as smelly. It dosen't contain excessive salt like karuwaadu.

In my moomas place maasi kuzhambu and idiyappam was the standard menu for unexpected guests, with maybe eggs on the side from the hens roaming around the Coconut grove.

I am sending this to Learning to Cook : Dish Name Starts with M and Spotlight - Curries/Gravies guest hosted by Chandrani for Indrani's Event

The Saga of the Pavakkai Poriyal (Bitter Gourd Stir fry)

Pavakkai Poriyal - glistening with green goodness.

There is a long story behind my relationship with this vegetable, for those who don't want to read the story please scroll down for the recipe.

Pavakkai or Bitter Gourd is one veggie which I hate. When I was in school, my mother used to make it at home because it was good for health espescially diabetic patients (my grand parents were diabetic). she used to try to make me eat it saying it good for diabetes. My standard reply was if and when I get diabetes I will suffer at that time, no need for me to suffer in the expectation of suffering. Well cheeky me.
Then I got married to a man who loves bitter gourd. Hmm.. He is MSc chemistry. I should have suspected something when he chose chemistry as his major. Well opposites attract and all that stuff. When I was newly married and so in thrall with his charm, I tried to cook bitter gourd for him. phew! I felt the whole house smelled of bitterness. I put my foot down. Choose either me or pavakkai. Of course since my hubby also likes sweets he chose me. OK OK I made that up. He grumbled once in a while about how good pavakkai is for health and how a "proper" cook will know how to cook it properly.
I took it in this ear and out through the other ear and consoled him with my Biriyanis etc..
After my daughter started school, I joined a job. There was this lady who inspired awe in me. Her name was Madam Mercy. Till date I dont know her last name though I have met her Husband and two children more times than I can count. She is a malayalee. She was super efficient and we could set the clock in our office based on her punctuality. Her house was neatly maintained. She had prayer meetings in her home where she prepared food herself for the attendees. Well you get the idea. If there is a super mom contest, my vote would have been for her. And her lunch box! Always freshly made food with a variety of dishes. Mine was normally thayir sadam and a side dish. She used to share her box generously also. If she knew that I liked some thing, next time, she bought extra for me.
Once I told her that my DH likes bitter gourd and I was a dismal failure at cooking it. She gave me her recipe for pavakkai stir fry and gave me some tips also. She also bought 1/2 kg of pavakkai poriyal on the day we had half day. I took that box home, kept it on the dining table telling my Husband that this pavakkai poriyal by Mercy madam is for you. I went to wash up and when I came back my Husband had polished it off. It must have been atleast two cups. I was stunned!
He only looked at me and told " You told it is for me only no?"
Well If you readers think that finally I started cooking pavakkai for my Hubby, you are wrong. I didn't. Atleast not for another five years atleast.
Now my Hubby's tune changed to " You remember Mercy madam's pavakkai poriyal, why don't you make it like that for me?" Heartless me. Again I consoled him with other dishes and told myself I dont have mercy madams magic with pavakkai.
From the above story you can seee how patient my Hubby is with me.
After coming to Saudi, around four months back, he had gone to the vegetable market. he came back and kept (rather Plonked) the veggies on the counter and said " I have bought pavakkai. Cook it for me. I don't care how, but I want it for tommorrow's Lunch." (Don't you just love macho men) I stared at the green ridges looking like a miniature crocodile on the counter. The pair stared back at me ( I felt like that).
Luckily I have an aptitude for remembering things for a long time and Mercy madams instructions were clear in my head. I thought what the hell. after all two pavakkais. what can they do to me. I followed her instructions as far as feasible. Wonder of wonders. No bitter smell. I even had a few spoonfulls mixed with my sambhar rice. Even I could eat it and my husband gave his stamp of approval whole heartedly.
It took me nearly fifteen years of married life to cook pavakkai to the satisifaction of my DH.

Readers, the moral of the story is try out something atleast once before you decide you are not good at it.

Recipe for Pavakkai Poriyal.
Ingredients:
Pavakkai - 2 nos around 20 cm length and 7 cm diameter
Big Onion - 1 nos,
Curry leaves 2 sprigs
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste
Dessicated coconut - 2 - 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
udad dal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tst
Oil - 3 tbsp.

Procedure:

Note: Please follow the processing steps just as I have noted here. Mercy madams instructions were to slice the bitter gourds at the last min possible and immediately cook them.

Chop onions finely. Wash bitter gourd, slit into two, remove the seeds with a spoon and wash again and keep aside.Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard, udad dal, asafoetida two shakes or a pinch, curry leaves and chopped onions and salt in that order. Lower the flame and while the onions turn translucent, quickly slice the cleaned bitter gourd. It will take hardly two mins. Dump the cut pavakkai in the kadai, add turmeric powder and turn the heat to medium high. stir for around five mins. Add chilli powder and stir for around two mins, then check the pavakkai for done ness. It should be cooked by now, dosent take long. Stir a little longer if necessary. Add the dessicated coconut and stir till you get a nice aroma of toasted coconut.  Check for salt. Serve hot as an accompaniment with rice.

Yes Simple and easy actually. And very tasty according to my husband. When my father and mother come to help for my second delivery, I have to try it out on my Father.

As per Mercy madams instructions, I was supposed to add coconut pieces cut into chip size like corn kernels to the oil before adding onions and fry till golden. This imparts a lovely flavour to the dish but I dont buy whole coconut here. I buy either dessicated or frozen grated coconut. The dessicated coconut flakes added a nice toasted coconut aroma to the dish.

Baby & Toddler Foods

This is for the event Healthy Morsels - Baby & Toddler Foods.

I would like to share my experience with my Daughter now 12 yrs old. They are fresh in my mind as I have gone through them over and over as I cherished the memories in my mind and when asked for advice by other new mothers. There are some basic rules for feeding babies and toddlers for which advice I am grateful to the experienced ladies who adviced me. They saved me a lot of headache when coping with a energetic toddler alone without any relatives or neighbours nearby.

Rule No. 1 : Dont forcefeed your child. If she has stopped eating what you painstakingly prepared, dont take it personally and get frustrated and stuff your baby's mouth. It will only be sprayed back all over and you will have to clean everything. She will also get the idea that eating is something which causes mommy to be angry with her. Even just born babies can sense tension and stress in their mothers.

Rule No.2 : Get your child in the habit of eating from a specific place in the house. No roaming around with a bowl and spoon and making the whole house dirty. This rule has caused me a lot of head ache when I visited India on holidays as I was expected to feed my daughter by carrying my daughter around cooing and cuddling to "show " my love and care for her.Sorry. Not my cup of tea. Got a lot of flak from my mother and other female relatives but I persevered. My daughter started eating by herself without any fuss by the age of two or so. Keep your baby's food habits and sleeping patterns seperate from cuddling.

If you neglect this rule, as I said, the child will take it for granted that the whole house can by spattered with food, you will be forever wiping food from the sofas, steps, well you get the idea. And if you are not careful, you will be running behind your child even after she starts going to school.

Rule 3: Just because the adverts show a plump little child slurping from a baby food container it dosent mean that your child will like it. After about four or five varieties of cereal boxes, baby formula tins, I conceded to my baby's demand for home made food. She was never plump like Amul baby. I gave away all the store bought items and stuck to home made. I breast fed my daughter till 2 yrs old, started on solids at sound five months of age. The bottle was sparingly used for fresh juices and smoothies type of food.

Some recipes:

When cooking normal south Indian lunch, we have rice, dal & veggies. reserve  a little seperate from the rest before adding any spices to it. Scald the small jar and lid of the mixie with boiling water from the electric kettle. grind everything to a fine paste for younger babies and progressively coarser pastes for older babies. Take out in a container, Check for taste. If you dont find it tasty dont expect your baby to think any differently. It should be mild enough for your baby, but you should be able to eat atleast three teaspoons without gagging. That was my test for baby food.

Take a little seperately in a small bowl, feed the baby with an almost flat and small spoon. When starting for the first time and infact everytime make sure the baby is hungry but not so hungry as to be cranky and irritable. Keep food ready before she starts crying for it. Keep mealtimes as regular as possible so that the babies digestive system gets used to a timetable.

Another fav for my daughter was mashed boiled potatoes. I used to mix a little full fat milk powder for protien and a pinch of asafoetida and roasted jeera powder also to aid in digestion. She espescially like the potatoes cooked in non- veg gravy. I used to rinse away the masala with boiling water before mashing, but there was a light hint of the curry in the end product.

Third ofcourse is what every south indian knows - mashed idlies. Even as a baby, my daughter disliked sweet food, so instead of sugar and milk, I used dal water or milk with a little strained sambhar to make it the right consistency.

Fourth is Curd rice smashed to a coarse paste in the mixie. Add a little milk if the curd is too sour.

One more important item which I gave my daughter regularly , prepared every night by her daddy was egg milk mixture. This was after one year. Beat one or two eggs lightly , add boiling milk beating vigorously. the eggs will be cooked in the boiling milk to a custard like consistency. Strain through seive. Cool to warm enough or room temperature. Feed with a bottle with large hole
I dont remember adding sugar to this. In fact its preferable not to add sugar.

Some people have the habit espescially for toddlers to sleep with the bottles in the mouth. If she finishes feeding and is falling asleep, try and wake her up to sip from a bottle atleast a sip of water to cleanse the mouth, or else you may get fungal infection in the mouth, and cavities also. There is also the danger of the milk going to the nasal passages and suffocation. Or it may go to the ear canal and get ear infection.

Then there is mashed banana plain or mixed with cooked egg yolk.

Everybody knows about sprouted, dried, roasted and powdered ragi made into a gruel or pudding.

Ofcourse apples either cooked or scraped directly from the whole fruit.

In kerala, nenthrangai (semi ripe plantains) are steam cooked, grated, dried and powdered and made into a gruel or pudding for baby food. It is supposedly delicious, but I knew of it only when my dd was around 4 yrs old.

Then what else?

In bringing up babies as with everything else, Prevention is better than cure.

Be scruplously clean. You may think you are alone in a foriegn country with nobody to help you and you don't have the time, but it is all the more important for women like us to be more careful. believe me its easier to use boiling water from a kettle to sterilise everything baby uses than to clean up after a sleepless night with a feverish baby with diarrhea or vomiting. Wipe floors with disinfectant. Use dettol in the washing machine while washing clothes. If possible dry clothes in hot sun. Periodically sun the pillows etc used by your baby in the sun. I used polyester pillows so I washed in the washing machine regularly (monthly I think). I even washed the soft toys and rubber toys in the washing machine and dried them in the hot sun. use a washable mattress pad on the mattresses without fail.

Dont associate sleeping with rocking a baby to sleep or singing her to sleep or feeding her to sleep. When the baby is tired, you will know. Put her on the bed in a darkened and quiet room. and expect her to sleep. If she wakes up in between and fusses and you are sure shes not hungry or wet, dont lift her, it's very very tempting because babies look like angels when sleeping, control yourself and pat her or murmur her back to sleep. Lifting her up will disturb whatever sleep she has.

For gods sake please please dont keep any container like bucket or basin with water in the house. Babies have drowned by falling face first in five inches of water. Switch off the phone while bathing baby so you will not be tempted to leave the baby for a few mins while you answer the call. it can be deadly. Even the bathroom buckets should be emptied. If you are facing water problem, keep your stored water where the baby cannot crawl into or pull a chair up and climb to peep into it.

Seal all plug points at lower levels so the tiny fingers cannot poke into it. No plastic covers or pieces of string or ropes or cords lying around. No small items for the curious baby to swallow. Dont underestimate your baby.  My daughter actually stuffed her nose with a date seed in front of my eyes, it all happened within seconds and I was freaked out. My hubby was not to be reached, there was no mobile in those days, Luckily instead of breathing it she swallowed it. She was around two and a half.
I spent aroud half an hour terrified that my daughter with choke to death in my arms and I was going to kill myself. When we went to emergency room for an x ray the stupid seed was in her stomach. Whew!

I hope I have not bored anybody with my advice, maybe I sound bossy, but it is because I am the eldest of three sisters. (Smile)

Babies are wonderful. Love them as much as possible in all their stages of life. Whenever you hit a difficult patch remember this will pass. All that will be left will be sweet memories and the love you showed her. They grow up so fast. Sigh!

My first badge

This is for participating in Healthy Morsels - Pregnancy event a blog hop at Taste of Pearl City, Schmetterling Words and Lecker & Yummy Recipes. Its my first badge. I must say this badge makes me very happy. I want to add it on my side bar or some where but I dont know how. No energy nowadays for anything. I just want to sleep & sleep.

I like the design of the logo also. Do check out the round up for some wonderful recipes and hints on managing pregnancy.

Happy News, Nalla Vishesham

For those readers, who are visting my blog regularly, and maybe wondering why there are no new posts for a while, I have a very good reason. I am not able to enter the kitchen without feeling nauseous. I dont actually bring anything out, but the feeliing is there and also dizziness. Yes I know in the films they show the newly married heroine feeling dizzy and rushing off to the bathroom or wherever and then the doctor comes, holds her wrists and says, congratulations, you  are going to become a mother.
Yes. I am expecting a new addition to our family some seven months or so. To say I am stunned is understating the matter. My DD is 12 for the past ten years, we have tried for another child, and around two years back, I gave up and left taking any medicine or even thinking about it. after all I had crossed 35 by then. On my first Umrah, I had made supplication for another child, but did not go to the gyneac.

The Almighty moves in mysterious ways. I am a little anxious about my age, mostly deliriously thankful to God, sometimes worried how difficult it is to bring up children with proper moral values in these deteriorating times. Well He has taken care of our little family till now, He will take care in future also. I leave everything to my Rabb.

Right now I cant stand the smell of rice cooking or oil heating. Sigh! Hopefully this stage will be over soon, and I will start cooking properly and posting again.

By the by those who are wondering whether the tips I had given for combating morning sickness in my previous post really work. They do. I am trying them all over again. For that constant bitter feeling in my mouth, I have taken the habit of chewing sounf seeds to freshen my mouth. it works for some time.  For the rest of the time, I just think that in another one or two months I will be feeling hungry again and eating well and be patient till then. The more stressed out you make yourself thinking of morning sickness the more it will attack you. Chill out and you will feel better.

Puliangudi Special - Ulundhamparuppu Curry - Udad Dal Curry

I wanted to make my 50th post something special, everybody does it with sweets, but I wanted to do  something different. I decided upon this Ulundham paruppu curry as it is special to me.

This is one of the recipes that is unique to my native place, it is made in Puliangidi, Kadayanallur, Vallam Sengottai areas. I think Udad dal dishes are prevalent in this area because udad is the crop used in rotation between the rice crops.

During season, green udad bean pods are available (directly from the fields). These are boiled whole in salted water and then peeled and the green beans inside are eaten. Let me tell you they are really delicious and it is something I looked forward to when I visited during my summer holidays.

Girls who have attained age and pregnant and post partem women are given ulundh kali, ulundham paruppu curry, Ulundhu vadai, ulundhu choru in fact in Unlundhu/Udad Dal in as many forms as possible because it is said to srengthen the pelvic muscles and the back bone. The kali has a bitter taste due to the addition of aliyam vidhai. I remember being force fed the kali when I attained age. But I am grateful now, because I am relatively free of the backpain that seems to be so prevalent among women of my age in my acquaintance. I will post the recipes for the other items in future, if the almighty wills.

aromatic and creamy ulundham paruppu curry

Now for my favourite Ulundham paruppu curry.
First Step:
Udad Dhal - 1/2  cup
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Garlic Cloves 2-3
Cook all the above together with water to cover till the dal is cooked but seperate.
Second step:
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 tsp Sombu / perunjeeragam/ sonf
1 " piece Cinnamon
1/2 tsp jeera
1 " piece Ginger
2-3 Garlic Cloves
Grind all the above to a fine paste.
Third Step:
1 Big Onion Chopped or a handful of Sambhar onions (preferable)
One tomato - fimely Chopped
two green chillies Slit
1 tsp Chilli Powder (Omit for post partem ladies and can use a bit of black pepper powder instead)
4 tsp Malli Masala Powder
salt to taste
1 tsp Mustard seeds
two sprigs curry leaves.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard, after it splutters, add curry leaves and chopped onion. When onions change colour, add tomato peices, green chillies, salt, chilli powder, malli masala, and stir till raw smell of chilli powder goes. Add the ground coconut paste. Add water to make thick gravy and simmer till the masala is cooked. Last add the cooked udad dal with its water. Adjust for salt and serve with plain boiled rice and tomato chutney or any spicy curry. We had it with Pavakkai waruval & cauliflower jeera stir fry (recipes following soon).

Variations:
When the masala is boiling you can add Drumsticks or Raw mango to it and boil till cooked to get a really different and delicious flavour.
For a non veg variation, after the dal is added, eggs are broken into the gently simmering gravy and cooked. This is also good, but my husband dosen't like it, so I take a little in another pan and do it seperately.
Instead of the cinnamon and sonf in the coconut masala, you can add a tsp of garam masala powder, but I prefer not to do so.
Remember not to overcook the paruppu/dal, if the dal disingerates, the curry will take on a slippery texture which is not palatable to some people.

I am sending this to Foodelicious - Only South Indian Event, Vegan Diet - Only Plant Based, Any One can Cook series 45, Healthy Morsels, Vidhya's and Vardhini's  - Love Locked - Legumes.

Koththu Parotta - Plain Version

Sometimes when we make or buy Parottas, there are leftovers. This can be turned into delicious Koththu parotta the next day. This is very simple & quick item.

Left over parottas - Chop into small pieces directly from the fridge. Its easier that way.
Onions - sliced - For three salad plate sized parottas, use one big Onion
Tomatoes - 2 - 3 finely chopped
Chillies - 2 slit
Salt to taste
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp or more if you want more heat.
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp Optional
Corrainder leaves - chopped - a little
Oil as required

Heat oil in a pan, add onions, fry till golden, add ginger garlic paste, green chillies and sautee till raw smell of masala goes, add the spice powders and tomatoes , add salt, stir till tomatoes are mushy, add a tbsp of water if the gravy is too dry, fold in the chopped parotta pieces and the corriander. Squeeze half a lime if necessary. Serve with chips or raita. Simple , fast, delicious.

Potato Biriyani

This is one of the recipes that bring back memories of myself fighting with my sisters to scrape the pan clean. Even my finicky younger sister would polish it off. The name is Biriyani, but my mother used normal rice (parboiled rice) for making it. When Rasi at Vegetarian Food & me asked for a dish which we make especially for ourselves, I was a little taken aback. I realised that though I like what I cook, most of my cooking is geared towards my DH & DD's preferences. I couldn't think of a single thing which was special for me alone!!! While I was pondering over this and whether I have lost myself and other great thathvams (philosophies), along came Aruna manikandans Baby Potato Biriyani. Now I remembered my Mothers Potato Biriyani, which graced our lunch box very often as it was a family favourite and is something which can qualify for what I make specially for myself.

Here come my mom's Potato Biriyani, especially for me:

1 1/2 cups Rice (Any Indian Non glutinous Rice - Just adjust water accordingly)
1 1/2 cups - Cubed potatoes (around 1 " Cubes)
1 Onion - Sliced
2 tomatoes - chopped
1 green chilli - slit
1 tbsp - ginger garlic paste
1 tsp or less - chilli powder
1 tbsp - malli masala powder
salt to taste.
Oil/ Ghee or a mixture - as required.
Powder together the following:
3 cardomoms
1 " piece cinnamon
4 cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp jeera
1/2 tsp sonf
1/2 tsp Black pepper.

Wash and clean rice. Soak it till you process the other ingredients for this dish.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker or in a heavy bottomed pan. Add sliced onions, sautee till translucent. Add green chilli & ginger garlic paste. Add chilli powder, malli masala powder and the powdered masala and salt. fry till aromatic on low flame. add chopped tomatoes and sautee till mushy.
Now add the cubed potatoes, drained rice and enough water to cook rice (for parboiled rice the amount is three times the volume of rice, for raw rice 2 times and for jeerakasala rice 1.5 times). Check for salt at this stage. Close the lid and cook till done. Garnish with chopped corriander leaves.
Serve with a salad or pappad or potato chips.

I am sending this to Vegetarian Food & Me - I am the star ,  Any One Can Cook Series 45 and to Comfort Food

Strawberry Dates Milk Shake

Freshness in a Glass

Ingredients:

10 sttrawberries
10 pitted(seedless) dates - chopped
2 Ripe bananas
1 - 2 cups Whole Milk
date syrup - as per taste.
Strawberry Ice cream - 1 scoop

Blend everything smoothly, serve chilled. easy peasy and so wholesome. I felt instantaneously energised and my daughter loved the strawberry flavour.

I am sending this to Kalyani's Kitchen Chronicles - Summer Splash guest hosted at Sangeethas Kitchen

If I have given the wrong link please feel free to correct me, I am confused about this hosting business. Still am a baby blogger. :)

Update: 27-03-2012:

I am also sending this to Tase of Pearl City's Any One Can Cook: Series 45 and Healthy Morsels
For those ladies during their first trimester with the morning sickness may not be able to drink milk can try this with Yoghurt, it will be more soothing. One thing I did to combat this is to have a glass of water which I drank as soon as I woke up , I also kept sliced cucumber with lemon juice and salt in the fridge, peeled orange segments in covered bowls so that I had something to change my mind when I thought I was feeling nauseous. It worked very well.

Update : 14-07-2012

I am sending this refreshing drink to Ramadan Friendly Recipes @ The Halal Foodie

Kathirikkai Poriyal (Brinjal Stir Fry)

Even though it is not a popular vegetable it is amazing how many delicious dishes can be made with this bland spongy vegetable. It is an indispensable vegetable, economic and available through out the year. In my native place, we mostly use the light green striped variety or the white one. It is versatile and takes on the flavour of whatever spices or masala added to it. One of my favourites is this simple poriyal.
I got this recipe from my relative in sharjah, by relation she is my grandmother ( My own grandmothers cousin sister).

Ingredients:
Brinjal - Cubed 2 cups ( Since my hubby bought Long narrow variety I just sliced into 1/2 inch thick roundels so that they will hold their shape when cooked)
Onion - 1 Nos chopped
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp.
Jeera - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 4 nos
Garlic - 1-2 cloves
Coconut - 2 tbsp grated
salt to taste
Oil - 2-3 tbsp.
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Udad dal - 1 tsp

Procedure:
Cur brinjal, put in salted water to draw out the bitterness if the brinjal is not tender. If the seeds are prominent, then the brinjal is well ripened and may be bitter to taste in whatever dish it is used. Best not to use such in poriyals. You can use them for kaarakuzhambu, not even sambhar.
Grind Jeera, red chillies, coconut and garlic into a coarse dry mixture. Don't add water.
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and udad dal, after mustard splutters add Chopped onions, and when it turns colour add turmeric powder, salt and the ground mixture. stir fry the masala, you will get a wonderful aroma at this stage with the frying of the coconut, garlic & jeera. If you dont add salt and by chance the masala burns, the red chillies will smoke and choke you. Believe me I have experienced this. Next add the drained cubed or sliced brinjals and stir well to coat well with the masala. Cover and cook for around five mins. It should not cook too much or you will end up with a paste, tasty but nonetheless a paste.
Stir well on medium flame to lightly roast the cooked brinjal pieces and remmove from flame. Your Kaththirikkai poriyal is ready.

I am sending this to Foodelicious 'Only' South Indian event, Vidhyas and Srav's Vegan Diet - Only Plant based Food and to Taste of Pearl City's Anyone can Cook : Series 45

Spinach & Chana Curry

This is a curry I started making when I wanted something low carb as usually I paired it with Parotta made from maida, or Khubz same maida but baked so I console myself healthier. There's something fascinating about the huge round oven in which the baker puts the flat disc of dough inside and it puffs beautifully into Khubz. We have been having Khubz regularly for years because my Hubby like arabic food.
I try to compensate by overloading the fiber factor in the accompaniments, it has worked so far because even though we regularly take parotta or khubz, we are free from constipation, cholesterol etc...

Weelllll coming to the recipe, this is a very healthy recipe full of the goodness of Spinach and Chana.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Cooked Chana (or one can)
2 cups - chopped spinach
1 cup  - Chopped Onion
1 cup - Chopped tomato
1/4 cup - Chopped corriander leaves
2 Nos - Chopped green chillies
1 Tbsp - Ginger garlic paste
1 Tbsp - Corriander powder
1 tsp - Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp - garam masal powder
1 tsp - Pepper - jeera powder
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
Oil as required.

Heat oil in a kadai, sautee onions till golden.
Add ginger garlic paste and the chopped green chillies and sautee till it turns colour.
Add chopped tomatoes and a little salt and cook till tomatoes are mushy.
Add all the spice powders excepting pepper jeera powder and stir till masala is aromatic.
Add Chopped spinach and stir a little, add a little water and allow the spinach to cook till semisoft.
Mash the cooked spinach with the back of the spoon.
Stir in the cooked chana and corriander leaves and let it simmer for five mins or so to blend the flavours.
The consistency should be semi solid, add water as required and check for salt level.
After switching off the stove, stir in the pepper jeera powder and the lemon juice.

This amount was just right for the three of us, but it will serve four persons witha little more water added to the gravy.

When I had a larger fridge, I used to soak and sprout 1 kg chana at a time, pressure cook with salt to taste and divide into four or five parts and freeze. The chopped spinach usually was kept aside when I made poriyal the previous day or the day before. So all that remained was chopping the onion, tomatoes and green chilles. This you can do while the pan is heating on the stove so it was a quickie recipe for me. It takes maybe fifteen to twenty mins if all the ingredients are in hand.

Ladies pressed for time and energy can use canned garbanzo beans, frozen spinach. There is no problem in using what resources you have available to make a home cooked meal for your loved ones.

We have this with chappaties, poories or when tired with parottas from the nearby cafeteria or Khubz from the bakery.

I am sending this to Chel Al Dente's Gimme Green, Taste of Pearl City's Healthy Morsels, Vidhyas and Vardhinis Love Locked - Legumes, Srav's Vegan Diet - Only Plant Based, Show me Your HITs Series 2 Fiber Rich Foods

 

Iam also sending this to Taste of Pearl City's : Any One can Cook Series - 45

Seven Cup Sweet

Or should I say 3 1/2 cup sweet ?

Of the three of us, me my DD & my DH, only my DH has a sweet tooth. So I make sweets rarely. My sweet making takes place during Ramdaan time, and when guests come. This is a simple sweet, nutritious sweet, easy to make and good for children. Bigger people can limit themselves to one piece if they can ;-).

The actual recipe is as follows, I halved the recipe.

1 cup - kadala maavu (Besan aka Chick pea Flour)
1 cup - Cocnut finely grated (avoid the brown part near the shell)
1 cup - Milk
1 cup - Ghee (Clarified Butter)
3 cups - Granulated Sugar

Take a heavy bottom pan, heat it, reduce the flame, add ghee, add besan, grated coconut, fry a little, then add other ingredients.
Stir continously for fifteen mins or so on medium flame. The whole mixture will give a toasted aroma and change colour slightly and come off the sides.
You can add 1/2 tsp of cardomom powder for flavouring, but it is optional.
Pour into greased plate and cut into squares or diamonds when half set. Break apart when fully set. I got around 15 pieces which will last around three days in my house :-)


Dont they look glossy ?

Toy from a small baby coconut

We used to make this from the small underdeveloped coconut which fell down and from the ribs of the coconut frond. I think the pictures will be sufficient. I wanted to record this somewhere - an example of the simple pleasures which made up my childhood.

From This

To This

If we hold the two sticks woven between the looped stick and the straight sticks and flick our wrist to rotate the baby coconut, it will produce a whirring tic tic sound.

This vacation when I went to TVM, I showed my daughter how to make it, she was enchanted that I used to make my own toys in my childhood. It was more fun or atleast it seemed like that to me.

I remember making whistles from leaves of a tree, I forget its name it had wonderful yellow flower with a deep reddish maroon center.

Anti caking agents

Usually I am ambivalent about chemical additives thinking that if so many people are having them without any side effects, I dont have to break my head about it. Afterall its not everyday that we have chips etc...
Anyways today I was fed up and asked my hubby to buy a big packet of name brand potato chips. I casually going through the list of ingredients Ok no big words only one - anticaking agent E535. Well I went to Google and this was the result:

An anticaking agent is an additive placed in powdered or granulated materials, such as table salt, to prevent the formation of lumps and for easing packaging, transport, and consumption.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_ferrocyanide

I quote
"Sodium ferrocyanide is the sodium salt of the coordination compound of formula [Fe(CN)₆]^4-. It is a yellow crystalline solid that is soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol. Despite the presence of the cyanide ligands, sodium ferrocyanide is not especially toxic (acceptable daily intake 0–0.025 mg/(kg body weight)^[2]) because the cyanides are tightly bound to the metal. However, like all ferrocyanide salt solutions, addition of an acid (a hydrogen donor) can result in the production of cyanide gas (HCN), which is toxic. In its hydrous form, Na₄Fe(CN)₆·10H₂O (sodium ferrocyanide decahydrate), it is sometimes known as yellow prussiate of soda. The yellow color is the color of ferrocyanide anion.

[edit] Uses

Sodium ferrocyanide is a chemical additive known as E 535. It is added to road and food grade salt as an anticaking agent.^[2] When combined with iron, it converts to a deep blue pigment called Prussian blue.^[3] In photography, it is used for bleaching, toning, and fixing. It is used as a stabilizer for the coating on welding rods. In the petroleum industry, it is used for removal of mercaptans.

[edit] Production

Sodium ferrocyanide is produced industrially from hydrogen cyanide, ferrous chloride, and calcium hydroxide, the combination of which affords Ca₂[Fe(CN)₆]^.11H₂O. A solution of this salt is then treated with sodium salts to precipitate the mixed calcium-sodium salt CaNa₂[Fe(CN)₆], which in turn is treated with sodium carbonate to give the tetrasodium salt.^[4]""

End of quote.

The ingredients list told Anticaking agent E535, if it was mentioned anti caking agent sodium ferrocyanate I would have thought twice or maybe even five times before succumbing to dd's pressure and buying it.
Sure it tastes good. Real good. Less oil than if Imade potato chips at home myself.
In my mind cyanide is something used for secret agents and terrorists of the enemy country to commit suicide. Or some filmi villianess using it to kill the hero or related person. It is not a real thing....it happens to others not to me!
Is it some conspiracy? giving chemical additives inocous harmless sounding names and lulling the general public. It is supposed to be harmless in at small doses. But I am still leery. I have to search for more information on the net.

Not only chips, anti caking agents are added to Salt, dry milk powder, Egg mixes, Flours, goodness is there anything left?

It is said accceptable daily intake 0.025mg/kg body weight per day. Now there's no indication of the amount of caking agent in that packet. So my DD is 42 kg so her acceptable daily inkae is 42 x 0.025 = 1.05 mg. I know many kids who can polish off 5 or 6 packets at a time in one go. Thank God My daughter is not interested in packet chips most of the time, we buy only when travelling and at petrol stations.

What action can I take? Well I have written this post for one, second Iwill tell all my friends, third stricly keep consumption to one packet at the most, Fourth read the lable and google the ingredients.

I think instead of chips I will have to depend upon wadawams and pappads.....Hmmm. Some more experimental cooking coming up.