chenai setti masiyal recipe

When I was 8 or 9 years old, for summer vacation I visited my grandma's place in Chennai, then called as 'Madras' :) where I first tasted this dish and it was so well prepared, from that time I am extremely fond of this dish. This goes very well with roti, chapatti, pulka and also with  plain hot rice.

CHENAI SATTI MASIYAL (mashed yam stew)

INGREDIENTS

Yam - 200 gram

Toor dal - 25 gram

Lemon - 1 extract juice

Green chili - 2 cut into pieces

Urid dal - ½ tsp

Ginger pieces - ½ tsp

Grated coconut - 3 tsp

Asafoetida, Curry leaves, Oil and Salt

METHOD

1.      Pressure cook Yam and Toor dal separately with a pinch of turmeric powder.

2.      Smash yam and toor dal and keep aside.

3.      Heat thick bottom kadai with 1 tsp oil. (I use coconut oil which gives good aroma).

4.      Crackle mustard seed, urid dal and asafoetida.

5.      Add curry leaves, ginger pieces, green chilly, grated coconut and sauté for a minute.

6.      Add yam, toor dal and salt.

7.      Mix well and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

8.      Switch off the stove and add lemon juice.

(here is a close up :) )

TIPS

1.      Just the addition of *tamarind juice instead of lemon juice, yam masiyal can get a different taste.

2.      *Extract little tamarind juice and cook until raw smell goes off.

3.      Other preparation are same as mentioned above

HAPPY COOKING!

-Jay

Palak Paneer Recipe

Living very close to the vegetable market makes it comfortable to pick fresh "Palak"/broad leaf spinach which is available only in the evening. I immediately use that up for dinner to make delicious "Palak Paneer" without Ginger-Garlic paste which is relished by all members of my family.

PALAK PANEER

INGREDIENTS

Palak/broad leaf spinach - 1 bunch (wash and take only the leaves)

Paneer - 100 gram cut into small cubes

Onion -1 medium size cut into small pieces

Green chili - 2 slitted

Cumin seed - ½ tsp

Garam Masala - ½ tsp

Coriander powder - ½ tsp

Cashewnut - 4 pcs 

Tomato blanched - 1

Butter to sauté, lemon piece and salt to taste

GRIND

1. Grind cashewnut and tomato and keep aside.

2. Chop palak and sauté with 1tsp butter, cool them and blend coarsely. Set aside.

METHOD

1. Place the paneer in hot water for 5 minutes, drain and keep aside OR sauté paneer pieces with 1tsp butter and a pinch of black salt.

2. With 1 tsp butter add cumin seed, green chili and onion and sauté till onion turns light brown color.

3. Add cashew nut & tomato mixture, garam masala, coriander powder and sauté for five minutes.

4. Mix blended palak and cook for just few minutes in low flame.

5. Finally add paneer, gently mix and cook for one more minute.

6. Serve with butter on top/lemon wedges. Goes well with rice/bread varieties.

Tips

This can also be prepared with ½ tsp Ginger-Garlic paste and should be added while sauting onion.

Happy Cooking!
-Jay

Kozhakattai recipe

Kozhakattai is a peculiar sweet or savory rice dish from South India. It is made specifically for festivals like Varalakshmi Vradam (celebrating the Goddess Lakshmi) or Vinayaka chaturthi or Ganesha Pooja (the birthday of the God Ganesha). In my childhood days at Shimoga (Karnataka)  after Ganesha Pooja, after eating a good number  of  kozhakattai at home, we as children used to make visits to many homes and temples possible where Ganesha Pooja was celebrated. The more Ganesha Pooja visited, the more blessed and powerful we felt. The next day at school, we discussed with our classmates who was the most powerful of us all!

Kozhakattai, as I mentioned in the beginning of this post, is a peculiar, multi-step dish. It is prepared by cooking a rice batter in low flame until it thickens. Then, the resulting dough is flattened, filled with sweet or savory stuffings and steamed. The resulting filled rice pouches are called kozhalattai. The recipes are definitely worth the effort. Like the old Indian advertisement jingle "No one can eat just one" :)

Given below are the recipes for sweet/savory and a baby-savory version called "ammani" kozhakattai. I have described the modern and traditional method of making these.
 

SWEET COCONUT KOZHAKATTAI
(Tamil to English: Kozhakattai - sweet or savory-filled rice pouches)
 

INGREDIENTS FOR 15 Nos

Raw Rice - 1 cup
Fresh grated coconut - 2 cups
Jaggery powder - 1 cup
Cardamom - 1 piece

COCONUT JAGGERY FILLING (POORNAM):

1. Boil jaggery powder with ¼ cup water.

         

2. Remove the sediments by filtering through a sieve.
3. Return the filtered syrup to the stove, mix it with the grated coconut and allow it to thicken by stirring continuously.

4. The resulting mixture should be as shown.

RICE BATTER/DOUGH

1. Soak the rice in water for an hour.
2. Grind the rice smoothly by adding some water.

3. Add 1½ cup of water, 1tsp oil and a pinch of salt (salt is optional).
4. Pour the mix in a thick bottom kadai (skillet).
5. Cook on a low flame by stirring continuously until you get a thick dough and it is almost 70% cooked (as shown in the picture above).
6. Cover with a lid and keep aside for 10 minutes.
7. The texture of the dough should be soft after 10 minutes. If not sprinkle some warm water on the top and knead into an even dough as shown below.

(In the traditional approach the water is brought to a boil, then rice powder added to it and cooked into a dough by stirring continuously)

8. Divide the dough and make tomato-sized balls.

9. Flatten the balls using a chapatti maker (tortilla maker) and place the coconut jaggery filling inside.

10. Alternatively, apply oil drops on your palms to lubricate. Take a rice ball and make a depression, by pressing the centre of the rice ball with your thumb finger. With the help of the other three fingers, lightly press and rotate until you get a cup shape (as shown above).

.
10. Bring the edges together as shown.

11. Steam cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes and serve.

SAVORY (SALT) KOZHAKATTAI

INGREDIENTS FOR 15 Nos

Raw Rice - 1 cup
Urid dal - 1 cup (50g)
Grated coconut - 4 tsp

SEASONING FOR SAVORY (SALT) KOZHAKATTAI:
Mustard seed ¼ tsp, Urid dal ¼ tsp, Asafoetida, pieces of green chili 1or 2 and salt.


METHOD:  Rice batter is same as mentioned in sweet kozhakattai. Stuffing and folding is different. Please see the photograph.



POORNAM FOR SALT KOZHAKATTAI

1. Wash and soak the urid dal for ½ hour.
2. Drain completely and grind coarsely with chili and rice.

3. Heat oil 2 tsp, and season with mustard seed, urid dal, asafoetida, green chili.

4. Add the ground mixture and salt.

5. Sauté continuously with manual mixing until the mixture is cooked.
6. Add the grated coconut and mix well.

7. The resulting mixture should be semi-dry as shown above.

Kids sometimes eat up the poornam alone, and from the left over rice dough we can make a delicious ammani kozhakattai.



AMMANI KOZHAKATTAI

1. Make mini balls with the left over kozhakattai rice dough. Please see the photograph below.

2. Season with 1tsp oil, mustard seeds, green chili and curry leaves.
3. Add the mini balls, grated coconut and salt.
4. Sauté for two minutes and serve
5. If the savory urid dal stuffing is left over, feel free to add it at the end.

Happy Cooking,
-Jay