Coconut Chutney

Ingredients:

• coconut (grated) 1 cup
  
• green chili 1 or 2 numbers
  
• ginger and garlic paste 1/2 table-spoon
  
• chopped small onion (chinna vengayam) 5 to 7 numbers
  
• black mustard seed (kadugu) 1/2 table-spoon
  
• salt as required
  

Method:

First, make the coconut thuvaiyal. I.e. Grind the coconut, green chili, ginger and garlic paste, and salt (as required) to get the paste.

Take a pan, pour 1 table-spoon of oil and fry some black mustard seed (kadugu). Add the chopped small onion into the pan and fry it for few minutes. Add the paste made. Heat the paste for 3-5 minutes.

Coconut chutney is ready. It can be served for idlies, dosas and ven pongal.

Note:
If ready-made ginger and garlic paste is not available, use two flakes of garlic and a marble sized ginger.

Coconut Thuvaiyal

Ingredients:

• coconut (grated) 1 cup
  
• green chili 1 or 2 numbers
  
• ginger and garlic paste 1/2 table-spoon
  
• salt as required
  

Method:

Grind the coconut, green chili, ginger and garlic paste, and salt (as required) to get the paste.

Thus made paste can be served as coconut thuvaiyal for idlies and dosas.

Note:
If ready-made ginger and garlic paste is not available, use two flakes of garlic and a marble sized ginger.

Onion Chutney

Ingredients:

• small onion (chinna vengayam) 10 to 15 numbers
  
• red chili 2 numbers
  
• coconut (grated) 1/2 cup
  
• tamarind a marble sized
  
• black mustard seed (kadugu) 1/2 table-spoon
  
• salt as required
  

Method:

Fry the onion and red chillies in a pan with 1 table-spoon of oil. Fry until the onion turns to golden color.

Dissolve the tamarind in water and make the tamarind water.

Take the fried onion and red chili, tamarind water, coconut and salt (as required) in a mixer. Grind them to get paste.

Take a pan, pour 1 table-spoon of oil and fry some black mustard seed (kadugu). Add the paste made. Heat the paste for 3-5 minutes.

Onion chutney is ready. It can be served for idlies and dosas.

White Pongal (ven pongal)

White pongal (ven pongal) is a simple dish for a morning break-fast. It takes very less time for preparation.

Ingredients:

• raw rice (pachai arisi) 2.5 cup
  
• green gram dhal (siru paruppu) 1 cup
  
• salt as required
  
• black pepper 1 table-spoon
  
• cumin (jeerakam) 1 table-spoon
  
• cashew nuts (mundhiri paruppu) as required
  

Method:

Take the 2.5 cup of raw rice (pachai arisi) and 1 cup of green gram dhal (siru paruppu) in a rice-cooker. Add 5 cups of water. Add salt (half table-spoon) as required. Cook for two whistles of rice-cooker.

Take some black pepper (1 table-spoon), some cumin (jeerakam) (1 table-spoon) and some cashew nuts (mundhiri paruppu). Fry them in a pan with 1 or 2 table-spoon of ghee.

Mix the fried items into the White pongal (ven pongal) that is in rice-cooker.

White pongal (ven pongal) is ready. White pongal (ven pongal) shall be served with sambhar and coconut chutney.

Kick start

One fine morning I was browsing through the supplements of a daily newspaper. There was an article on recipe for fish curry. I made up my mind to try it a day. And I thought to preserve the article in some form. While thinking so, there stood up a question in my mind "have you preserved the recipes atleast you know".

Yes, I know cooking. I have had my hands on it. Though my profession is in software I have a passion for cooking. I like cooking my food. Cooking is great art. You should have the passion for it unless you can't have a hand on it.

I get the recipes from my mother whom I consider a great cook. Until I had my hands in cooking, I didn't realize what a great work she is doing.

So now I have to preserve the recipes that I learnt, tried and succeeded. Then came the idea of maintaining a blog for the recipes I know. A blog would benefit both myself and the people referring this blog.