Kolam by Sudha Balaji

How to prepare ! Add hundred-gram sugar to a pan, heat on medium flame till it turns golden brown. Remove from the stove and whisk in 85g unsalted butter at room temperature. Put it back on the stove Whisk for one more minute.  Transfer the caramel formed to a nine-inch pan for which I use a cake tin.  Then set it aside. Peel, slice and core 6 apples and arrange beautifully on the caramel as shown in the picture above How to make puff pastry For puff pastry take 1 1/2 cup refined wheat flour, add a teaspoon of salt, make a dough with COLD water and set it aside  Cover with a damp cloth for 15 minutes.  Sprinkle flour on the counter kneads the dough for about 1 minute . (a) Roll with a rolling pin into a rectangular shape. (b)Brush off any excess flour and apply room temperature butter on 2/3rd of the dough (c). Leave a gap of 1/2 inch on both sides. (d) Book fold the dough, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. Repeat this proce...

Idli maavu preparation ratio | Idli paste recipe || Idli pindi preparation Idli is the most traditional break fast recipe of Southern India.  It tastes excellent with coconut chutney and milagai podi.   First take five measures boiled rice Wash and drain water at least  twice to remove dirt and other contaminants like pesticides if any Take one and quarter measure urad dal.  Measure - means the same container is used to measure both idli and ulundu or ulutham paruppu Add one tea spoon fenugreek to urad dal Wash and drain water - for urad dhal also at least twice How long to soak rice for idli batter and how long to soak urad dal for idli Soak both boiled rice and paruppu ( pappu in Telugu ) for three hours First wet grind rice in a grinder or mixer depending upon the quantity Remove rice batter and transfer to a container Next grind urad dhal When to add salt to idli batter - Add salt to the dhal being ground Rem...

Kothamalli thokku - side dish for rice , idli dosa We need coriander leaves .  I have taken four clusters of coriander leaves, tamarind ,  Separate the leaves from the stems .  The stems interfere in grinding and some of them may not get ground properly Take shallots or onions an four cloves of garlic -  these are optional Take five or six red chillies Add tamarind. Add little water and wet grind all ingredients  in a mixer Heat oil in a pan , add mustard Add the wet ground mixture of coriander leaves Add turmeric powder - two spoons ( small as shown in the photo ) Add four spoons of dhania powder Add little chilly powder since we have already added red chillies.  If we want more kaaram ( hot ) we can add more chilly powder Heat it till the coriander leaves , onions and garlic get cooked. Close with a little because the thokku usually sputters. Once cooking is complete add salt I add jaggery also...

Take one measure  rava and half  measure moong dhal Dry roast the moong dhal in a shallow vessel till the raw flavour disappears. We can prepare without dry roasting also Cook the moong dhal separately in water boiled in vessel.  If we cook in a pressure cooker the dhal particles may stick and may not be discrete. Close it with a lid and allow it to get cooked.  We can know that it is cooked when a dhal particle breaks into to when we press it with our finger nail.  Add salt required for the dhal Take ghee in a shallow vessel.  We can use oil also but it tastes good with ghee. Add the ingredients, pepper, cumin seeds, small ginger pieces, asafoetida cashew nuts and curry leaves to the hot ghee. Add about three measures of water for one measure rava and let it boil.  Add salt as per your taste and requirement. When the water boils add the rava , constantly stirring with a ladle as we do for upma or uppitu. This ensure...

Rasa podi - traditional method of mine Usually I prepare fresh rasam powder for festivals like Navratri , Varalakshmi Vratham  Rasam powder can be prepared in many ways.  How I prepare following the traditional method of our family .  With the use of curry leaves, cumin seeds , pepper etc. we are assured of the benefits of these spices. Dhania - 1 measure Red chillies - 1 measure  Pepper - 1/4 measure Cumin seeds 1/8 measure Gram dhal - 1 table spoon Toor dhal - 1 table spoon Asafoetida - one pinch Curry leaves - few. All the ingredients should be dry roasted separately .  Red chillies are roasted with little oil.  After dry roasting transfer them to a plate or vessel.  Allow the mixture to cool and then dry grind in a mixer. Rasa podi is ready.   Store in an air tight container. Another simpler method of preparing rasam powder is shown below Rasam powder or rasa podi Rasam podi can be prepared in many methods ...