Badam burfi

Ingredients:

1. Badam – 1 cup (200 gms)
2. Milk – ½ cup
3. Ghee – 4 tsp
4. Sugar – 1 and ¼ cup
5. Cardamom – 7 nos

Method:

1. Soak almonds in hot water for 2 hrs
2. Peel the almonds skin and grind with milk, cardamom, sugar to fine paste.
3. Heat ghee in a heavy pan.
4. Add paste and cook on medium high flame, stir continuously.
5. After a while it should turn a light brown and aromatic.
6. Stir gently till a soft lump forms and ghee begins to separate.
7. Grease the plate, spread above mixture uniformly and allow it to cool for some time
8. Once it becomes lukewarm, cut into square pieces.

Makes - 12 piece

Mix Veg Sambar (TamilNadu Style)

Ingredients:

1. Toor dal  - 1 cup
2. Vegetables - 1 and 1/2 cup
3. Onion - 1/2 (small)
4. Tomato - 1/2 (small)
5. Tamarind juice
6. Salt
7. Coriander leaves
8. For seasoning: Oil – 2 tsp, Curry leaves, Methi seeds – ¼ tsp, Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp, hing

For Masala:

Dhania – 1 tsp

Jeera – ½ tsp

Uradal – 1 tsp

Channadal – 1 tsp

Black pepper – ½ tsp

Red chillies – 4 nos

Fresh grated coconut – ¼ cup

Method:

1. Cook dal and vegetables separately
2. Dry roast ingredients for masala (except coconut), set it aside to cool
3. In a pan add 1 tsp of oil, saute chopped onion and tomato and grind it with coconut and roasted masala ingredients to smooth paste
4. Take a frying pan, make seasoning by adding all ingredients then add cooked vegetables, sauté it for a minute, add tamarind extract, salt and grounded masala paste
5. Boil till it leaves raw smell, finely add cooked dal and continue boiling for 5 more min
6. Garnish with coriander leaves

Makes for - 2

Veg Biryani

Ingredients:

1. Basmathi rice – 2 cups
2. Vegetables – 1 cup
3. Curd – ½ cup
4. Salt
5. Coriander powder – 1 tsp
6. Chilli powder – 1 tsp
7. Cloves – 2
8. Cinnamon – small piece
9. Bay leaves
10. Crushed whole pepper – ½ tsp
11. Jeera – 1 tsp
12. Hing
13. Ghee – 3 tsp
14. Coriander leaves

Method:

1. Soak basmathi rice for about 30 min
2. In a frying pan add ghee, add bay leaves, jeera, pepper and once it splutters,add cinnamon,cloves, hing, chilli powder, coriander powder, sauté it for 2 min
3. Now add chopped vegetables (cut it lengthwise), salt, curd and sauté it for 2 more min
4. Mix this with soaked rice and cook it till done.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves

Seemebadane Kai Palya (Chayote curry)

Ingredients:

1. Chayote – 1
2. Red chillies – 4
3. Grated coconut – ½ cup
4. Coriander leaves
5. Fried gram – 2 tsp
6. Salt
7. Garlic – small piece
8. For Seasoning – oil - 2 tsp, mustard seeds – ¼ tsp, hing, channa dal – ½ tsp

Method:

1. Peel off the skin of chayote, cut it lengthwise and pressure cook it.
2. For masala, grind coconut, salt, fried gram, garlic, red chillies to coarse powder.
3. In a frying pan, add oil, mustard seeds, once it splutters, add hing, channa dal
4. When channa dal turns brown, add cooked chayote and sauté it for few seconds
5. Now add grounded masala and sauté it for 5 more min
6. Garnish with coriander leaves
7. Tastes good with chapathi, rice-rasam