Eggless Mayonnaise

The current term mayonnaise is derived from the French word moyeu which means egg yolk. It is used as the base of many chilled sauces and salad dressings. Mainly it is used as a sauce in salads, for example Russian salad. Commercially available mayonnaise is a health hazard, It is best prepared at home. Here is the recipe of the egg-less version of  mayonnaise.

Ingredients:

Hung curd -  11/2 cups
Condensed milk 1 - 2 table spoon
Extra Virgin olive oil - 1 - 2 table spoon
Coarsely ground black pepper - 1/4 teaspoon
Mustard powder / sauce - 1 tablespoon
Salt

Method:

Remove all the water from the curd by hanging it in a muslin cloth. Refrigerate for a few hours,the more the better. Minimum one hour.

Mix all the ingredients together. Mix well. Taste and adjust according to your preference.

Always store in refrigerator.

Coconut Dosa

Coconut is a wonder food. Coconut ,though high in calories does not support weight gain. It activates metabolism and has low glycemic index. It contains dietary fiber and is gluten free. Good for heart. Consumption of coconut improves digestion, as it aids in the absorption of nutrients by the body. It enhances the immune system of the body. 

Method:

Soak the rice for 4 hours. Wash and grind finely the rice and cooked rice with enough water. Transfer to a bowl. Now grind the coconut into a very fine paste with little water. Transfer to the same bowl. Add sugar and salt, mix well and allow to ferment overnight or 6 -7 hours. 

I used my mixer for the above process. If you are using the grinder, you can grind the rice and coconut together. For small quantities , i always depend on my mixer. 

Once the batter is fermented, add the coconut cream. Mix well. Add more sugar if you want it sweeter. The consistency of the batter - thicker than the regular dosa batter. If the batter is very thick add a little water to loosen it. 

Heat a flat pan or tawa, grease it lightly with oil. Pour a spoonful of batter and spread it out lightly. Do not make it very thin. Cook on medium low flame. When one side is cooked well , flip and cook on the other side. After making the required number of coconut dosas, the remaining batter can be stored in the refrigerator. When we refrigerate the batter, it will thicken, so loosen the batter with little water before use. 

Serve hot with dry coconut chutney. Click link for recipe.
http://ashasnairrajesh.blogspot.com/2015/02/appam-and-fried-coconut-chutney.html


Ingredients:   for coconut dosa

Raw rice - 1cup 
Cooked rice - 1/4 cup
Fresh grated coconut - 11/2 cups
Sugar- 2 tablespoons
Salt -1/2 teaspoon
Coconut cream - 2 table spoons 
Water as required
Oil for greasing the pan

Tomato Thokku

Tomatoes and potatoes belong to the same family. Like potatoes, tomatoes are available round the year. This is a low-calorie vegetable/fruit. Fresh ones are rich in potassium. Tomatoes are a rich source of anti-oxidants which protects one from various types of cancers. Lycopene, an anti-oxidant which is present only in tomatoes protects skin from UV-rays. Tomato is also good for eye-health. It is also a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin A and beta carotenes. 

Method: 

Heat a pan, add the mustard seeds and 2 tablespoons gingelly / sesame oil. When the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the chopped tomatoes and salt. Stir occasionally, on low flame, until all the moisture disappears. When the sauce starts thickening add the red chilly powder, kashmiri red chilly powder and turmeric powder. Stir well. 

Add the remaining gingelly oil and stir continuously until the raw smell of the chilli powder disappears. Do not burn the sauce. 

Take a little tomato thokku and taste it. If salt is needed add more. Remove from stove. Cool and store in air-tight container. It will stay fresh for a week in room temperature, if gingelly oil is used for cooking. It will stay fresh for more days in the refrigerator. Serve with Dosa or curd rice or chappati. 

Ingredients: 

Tomatoes chopped - 500 grams. 
Gingelly oil - 4 tablespoons 
Mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons 
Kashmiri red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons 
Turmeric powder - 3/4 teaspoon

Adapted from Shyni Sajith's recipe.

Uttappam

Uttappam is an embellished dosa. One can use a variety of grated vegetables or chutneys or even egg as the embellishment -its a personal choice. One can even relate it to pizza  - a south indian pizza.

Method:

Heat a flat pan or tawa. Grease it with gingelly / sesame oil. Pour a spoonful of dosa batter on the pan and spread it out like dosa, keep the flame on medium low. Do not make the dosa too thin or too thick. Immediately spread the grated vegetables on the top of the dosa. Pour a teaspoon of gingelly / sesame oil on the vegetables and another half teaspoon around the dosa. When you can't find any raw batter on the top, carefully flip the dosa and cook. Cook for a minute or two. Your Uttappam is ready. Transfer to a plate. Repeat the same procedure with the remaining batter.

Serve hot with chutney powder. Click this link for the recipe of Chutney Powder:

http://ashasnairrajesh.blogspot.com/2016/02/chutney-powder.html    

 Ingredients:

Dosa batter - 1 cup
Chopped onions - 2 table spoon
Chopped tomato  1/3 cup
Grated Carrot - 1/2 cup
Finely chopped ginger - 1 teaspoon
Finely chopped garlic - 1 teaspoon
Finely chopped Cabbage - 1/4 cup
Finely chopped green chilly - 1 teaspoon
Gingelly/Sesame oil

Note: You can use vegetables / vegetable of your choice. Different coloured Capsicums are a good choice.

Chutney Powder

Black gram or black lentil is very rich in protein and vitamins C, A, B. One of the healthiest among pulses along with Green gram. Very good for the heart. Reduces cholesterol. It is very healthy for women as it contains iron, calcium, folic acid, potassium, magnesium etc. It contains dietary fibre and is also easy to digest. Black gram is one of the main ingredients of idly/dosa batter.

Preparation:     

In a thick bottomed pan add the black gram, whole red chilly, peanuts, garlic. Remember to remove the stem of the red chillies and the skin of the peanuts too, at least most of it.  Place the pan on medium flame and roast the ingredients, stirring continuously. Add salt to taste. Add 1 teaspoon to 11/2 teaspoon salt. If more salt is needed you can add in the final stage.When the black gram turns brown, add the roasted channa dal (pottu kadalai) and asafeotida. Stir for a minute and remove the pan from fire. Allow the ingredients to cool.

When the ingredients are cool, dry grind them. After the grinding use a medium sieve to sieve the ground mixture. Again grind the left over mixture in the sieve. Seive again. Continue this process until 2 or 3 tablespoons of the mixture remain on the sieve. Dump this into the seived powder and mix well. Check salt. Chutney powder is ready. Spread this mixture on a big plate or paper and allow to cool. Store this in airtight jars, it will last for weeks.

Chutney powder is served along with dosa, idly and uttappam.

How to use: Heap a tablespoon of the chutney powder onto a plate, make a well in the centre, pour oil into that well and mix well. A thick sauce-like consistency is preferable. Coconut oil or gingely oil, whichever you prefer, can be used.

Ingredients:

Whole skinned black gram - 350 grams
Raw peanuts -  25 grams ( 46 nos )
Whole dry red chilly - 12
Garlic - 25
Roasted and split chickpea - 4 table spoon
Asafeotida - half a teaspoon
Salt

Mushroom Kerala

Mushrooms are a storehouse of essential nutrients. They increase the level of Vitamin D in our body. Mushrooms are low-sodium, low -calorie, cholesterol-free, fat-free and gluten free. They are a good source of protein and dietary fibre. Also provides Vitamin C, folate, iron, zinc etc etc. Contains  potassium. List doesn't end.

Always take care to buy organically grown mushrooms.

This dish is prepared like an anchovy dish, which is very popular in Kerala. So the name, Mushroom Kerala


Method:

Wash the button mushrooms and cut them into half inch pieces. Keep aside, Wash the tomato, green chilly and ginger. Cube the tomato. Slit 2 green chilly. Skin and cut half of the ginger into juliennes.

Wash and set aside a small piece of gamboge (kudam puli). Wash the curry leaves. Scrape coconut.

Grind coarsely the coconut, green chilly, ginger, garlic, shallots and turmeric powder.

In a pan add the mushroom pieces, ground coconut mix, slit green chilly, ginger juliennes, tomato pieces, gamboge, curry leaves, one fourth cup water and salt to taste. Stir, cover and cook on low flame.Stir in between. If water dries up before everything is properly cooked just add a few spoonfuls. Do not add too much water. In almost 10 minutes the cooking will be over.

Ingredients:

Button mushroom - 200 grams 
Grated coconut - 1 cup  
Shallots  - 5 - 6  
Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon  
Green chilly - 4 ( 2 for grinding and 2 to be slit)
Ginger - 1 inch piece (half to be ground and half to be cut into juliennes)
Garlic - 2   
Gamboge - 1 small piece 
Tomato - 1 large (local variety) 
Curry leaves - a few  
Water - 1/3 cup 
Salt  

Cluster beans and coconut Fry / Amarekka Thoran

Cluster beans/ Guar has great health benefits. It contains no cholesterol and no fat. Low in calories, it is a storehouse of nutrients, proteins, vitamins and minerals.It contains soluble fiber which is extremely good for the health of our digestive tract and can prevent diseases associated with it, especially Crohn's disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Colitis. Contains Vitamin K, C, A and also provides phosphorus, calcium, potassium etc. Because of its low glycemic index, it is very good for diabetics. Cluster beans are good for our heart. It improves blood circulation. Good for pregnant women.

Method:
Wash the cluster beans thoroughly. If the beans are not tender, you may have to string it , that is you have to remove the hardened string on either side of it. Drain and chop the beans using a knife, handfuls at a time. Keep aside.

Chop a few shallots finely. If shallots are not available use onion.

Cut pieces from a fresh coconut and chop it into smaller pieces. Keep aside. Now scrape /grate fresh coconut, add garlic, cumin, red chilly powder, turmeric powder. Grind coarsely. If the scraped coconut is fine enough, do not grind again. Just crush the garlic and cumin.

Now place a pan over the flame, add split black gram, mustard seeds, finely sliced shallots,broken whole red chilly and oil. Add curry leaves. When the mustard seeds starts spluttering, add the chopped onions and cluster beans. Saute on medium flame for a few minutes, till the onion softens. Now add a little water, cover and cook, Stir in between. When cooked add salt,the ground coconut mix and the coconut bits,lower the flame to simmer, mix well. Press down lightly and continue cooking on low flame, after a minute stir.Repeat the process until all the water is evaporated.
Serve with rice.

Ingredients:
Cluster beans chopped - 11/2 cups
Shallots/onion chopped- 1/3 cup
Fresh coconut bits - 3 table spoons
Grated fresh coconut - 1/2 cup
red chilly powder - 1/2 teaspoon  
turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
garlic - 2 pieces
cumin - a pinch
Salt
Water - 1/3 cup

For seasoning:
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Split black gram(urad dal) - 1 tablespoon
Oil - 1 tablespoon  
shallots(thinly sliced) - 1 teaspoon
Whole red chilly (each broken into 2 or 3 pieces) - 2
Curry leaves - 1 sprig