Coconut masala cube for Sambar

Ingredient Quantity

Oil 1 teaspoon
Dhania 1 Tablespoon
Channa dal 2 Tablespoon
Asafetida(Hing) 1 teaspoon(powder)
Red Chilly 4
Kashmiri Chilly or Bedige chilly 4
(To give colour)
Grated coconut 1 cup
Water 1/4 cup



Method
Heat oil, and add other ingredient except coconut and water, Roast till channa dal turns golden in colour.
Transfer to chutney jar, add coconut and water and grind fine.
Store in single ice cube tray  in the freezer for a day. Save in freezer bag.
Use one or two cubes in Sambar .

single ice cube tray      mini ice cube tray

Kootu cube

Ingredients	Quantity	Method
oil black gram dal(urad) Red chilly Jeera Grated coconut Water	1 teaspoon 4 teaspoon 4 1 teaspoon 1 cup ¼ cup	Heat oil. Add black gram and stir till golden, Add red chilly and stir for ½ minute, Add jeera and remove from stove, cool , add coconut  and water and grind in the chutney jar of Mixer. Transfer to single ice cube tray, press slightly, cover and freeze for a day. Transfer to freezer bag and use them in kootu when you need.

N.B;The advantage is ,it is easy to grind a larger quantity in a mixer as it will grind very fine.We can use as many cubes as we need.

Paruppu usily ( a Delicasy in Tamil Nadu)
Using Nutri Dal Ball(Paruppu urundai_Nochi urundai)

Nutri dal ball(paruppu urunda

Ingredients	Quantity
Paruppu urundai (taken out of freezer&thawed turmeric powder salt water Cooking oil of your choice mustard Spllit black gram dal Red chilly Grated coconut(fresh or taken from freezer) Sugar(optional) Karipatha commonly used vegetable(beans or capsicum 2 or Bittergaurd 1 very finely chopped or raw Banana flower)	5 balls ½ teaspoon ¾ teaspoon 2 cups 2 teaspoons ½ teaspoon 1 teaspoon 2  cut into four pieces 1 tablespoon ½ teaspoon few leaves cut very fine

                           

Method

1. Boil finely chopped vegetable with water,Turmeric powder and  salt till soft, cool and drain.(In Induction cooker with medium power level it will take about 12 minutes)
2. Place a thick bottomed shallow frying pan on medium heat(600 power level in induction cooker).add oil, mustard and wait till it breaks.(It is advisable to close the pan partly to avoid mustard flying around.
3. Add black gram., red chilly and karipatha. When black gram turns golden in colour, add the Nutri dal ball( in case you forgot to thaw the ball, sprinkle some water and close the pan and bring down the heat to minimum. Open after 3 minutes)Break the ball with the help of the spatula’ Pressing the ball against the pan will break them in no time.Bring down the heat to minimum, cover and leave it for 5 minutes. The dal ball would have been broken and slightly roasted. Stir till you are happy with roastng. It takes 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Add the cooked vegetable and strir and mix well. Add sugar and coconut and transfer to serving bowl if you want to reheat before eating.

As it is laboriuos to prepare the Delicious Banana flower( vazhai poo) Usily which my mother in law taught me, here I will try to explain it in an easy way.

White flowerlets are gathered and cleaned

Banana flower being cleaned

1. Buy a fresh banana flower from vegetable shop
2. Discard most of the outer layers with white flowerlet if you don't need large quantity. There is no harm in using them . I use only 2 cups of cut flowerlet. So it is easier to cut the tender ones.
3. Take one set of white flower-let. hold inside your left palm and disturb the top . You will see some blackish ,hard top. In tamil they jokingly say the Thief( in kerala they call it Kallan). You will have to remove each head with stem and discard them. Use the white flower only.After saving one lot of flower-lets group them and cut into fine pieces and proceed with the above recipe. As you reach the centre part of the flower, the thief will disappear and you can cut the flower let easily. If you don't remove the thief, the usily may turn bitter. But to enjoy the taste of this lovely dish ,It is worth all  the effort.

N.B: An interesting event comes to my mind. When I was newly married, my father in law accompanied me to Calcutta, He was very fond of vegetable shopping. He brought the banana flower and asked me to cook it. He was a wonderful person.While eating he very softly told me that I had not removed the thief and the vegetable was not edible(It was bitter). I apologised and told him that it was the first time I was cooking that vegetable which was never used in my parent's house.I had taken half a day to clean and cut the flower.I have sweet memories of him when my family enjoys the  banana flower usily.

Nutri Dal Ball-Paruppu urundai- Nochi urundai

1. One lot of this ball can be made , cooled, put in freezer bag and stored in freezer for six months.
2. We can use this to replace coconut in cooking
3. Always take two or three balls and allow to thaw for 2 hours or use microwave to thaw.
4. It can replace cooked dal for kootu recipies.
5. When making Mor kuzhambu-(butter milk kadhi- Manjige huli), use two balls and 1 teaspoon grated coconut with other ingredient to grind like green chilly, jeera (cumin seed)and Karipatha(Karuvepilai.).Grind with some buttermilk and add it to the rest of buttermilk. you can add your favourite ingredients while grinding.
6. You can use three balls as parupu usily base and add vegetable of your choice.

Ingredients	Quantity	Method
Tur dal Chana dal green chilly Red chilly Hing Salt Karipatha Water	1      cup ¼     cup 4 3 1    teaspoon(powder) 1 ¼ teaspoon ¼    cup (leaves) 1 ½ cup	Wash Tur and chana dal together well and drain. Add water and soak for 2 hours. Grind coarsely in a big jar of mixer with other ingredients. Make sure it is dropping consistency. Otherwise add a little water. Transfer to a microwave container and cook on high for 5 minutes. Stir well and allow to cool.Make egg shaped and egg size d balls  and transfer to freezer bag and store in freezer compartment.

1. N.B:You can make smaller balls with some grated coconut added and steam it before needed and can add as paruppu urundai in Mor Kuzhambu(Buttermilk Khadi)
2. If you live in Bangalore, on Friday morning at 11 am you can buy them in weight  from Ace Iyengar home products at 1480,40th croos,18th Main,4th T Block.Jayanagar.As the size of Nochi urundai in that shop is big, cut them into half and use as above.

Senior friendly - Induction cooker

Seniors should invest on induction stove and good sturdy vessels 

Induction stove with potato in jacket getting ready

1. It has a timer which helps you not to forget switching off the stove. 
2.  Learn to use the timer wisely-first day boil 1 litre of milk in a thick vessel and watch the time for boiling at about 800 power level. It may take about 8 to9 minutes depending on the thickness of vessel. Next day you can confidently put the timer and power level as previous day and relax reading a paper.
3. None of the induction stoves has a proper instruction manual. Your effort for the first one week is very useful. I have made a time chart for different routine cooking work, like 10 minutes for rasam if the dal is cooked already, 10 minutes to make a simple vegetable and so on. 
4. You inhale more oxygen when standing near induction stove than gas stove. 
5.  My husband at  the age of 80 learnt to cook basic things in induction stove.
6. Buy good thick bottomed vessels 2 or 3- best are  induction friendly Vinod brand heavy bottom pans with handle costing about 500 Rs each.They are very easy to clean if you don't have a maid coming, and if she comes she cannot dent the bottom( if it happens you cant use them in induction stove again) 

Vinod Brand Vessel

   

Herbal Remedy for cold and cough

Athimadhuram                      50grams 
Chitharathai                           50 grams 
Dry ginger powder (sukku)   25 grams
Pepper powder                      1 1/2 Tablespoon
Ajwain powder(omam)          2 Tablespoon
Holy basil(Tulasi) powder    50 grams
 Mix all the six ingredients well and save it in an air tight container. 
Take 1/2 teaspoon of this ,add 1 teaspoon honey and mix well. Take it everyday before going to bed. This has worked very effectively where allopathy and homeopathy medicine did not work for many members in my family. 

NB: All theese ingredients are available in powder form in Tamilnadu herbal product shops.
        I get them from Kannan Deparmental stores in Ramnagar, Coimbatore.

Freezer Recipe Basics

Keep the following things handy for  the cubes. Prepare them in bulk on a liesurly day and your daily cooking will be done in a jiffy.

1. 2 single ice-cube trays with lid

2. 2 mini ice cube trays
3. A set of freezer containers(I use different colour lids for different masalas)
4. Freezer bags
5. Artists masking tape and pen with waterproof ink( for labeling the containers)

Single ice cube tray and mini tray

Green Chilly Cubes
No	Ingredients	Recipe	Storing	Use
1 2	1 cup green challis washed and cleaned 1 teaspoon lime juice	Grind in a chutney jar of a mixie coarsely.	Fill a  mini tray, level with a knife, cover and freeze for a day. Transfer to a freezer container.	Take one or two cubes and use in the place of fresh chilly. Will stay fresh for six months