Recipe- Makki Di Roti & Palak Subzi

No, you read it right. We had Makki Di Roti & Palak Suzbi. I know the traditional combo is Makki di roti and Sarson ka saag, well, we don't get Sarson ka saag [the Mustard greens] in Chennai and so this alternative :)

When we had visited Delhi earlier this month, when i mentioned i like this combo, my aunt asked her maid to make it. Mom & I walked it down to this cool organic store called The Roots and bought Maize flour.We devoured the rotis and the Sarson ka saag, and mom decided she wanted to make them once we were back in Chennai. Since there was a packet of flour leftover, we brought it with us and yesterday mom made it for lunch.

She had asked the maid how to make [in her broken hindi] and managed to make a few small rotis, invited me over for lunch excitedly :)

What you need:
Maize Flour - 2 cups   

Salt -to taste
Ghee - as required to knead the dough

How to make:
1. Add salt and ghee to the flour and mix well till becomes a nice soft dough.
2. Make balls or divide the dough into portions
3. Take a plastic sheet and pat the dough on it, making it into a roti [dont make it too thin, it will stick to the sheet]... Alternatively you can roll out each ball between the folds of a greased plastic sheets.
4. Heat a tawa and cook the roti on it till both sides are done.
5. apply a dollop of butter or ghee and serve hot.

Palak Subzi that mom made was the usual subzi you make for rotis and it did go well with Makki di roti...

What you need:
Palak/spinach leaves - a bowl of chopped leaves
Onion- 1
Tomato- 1
Green chilli- 1[optional]
oil- as required
Salt- as required
Garam masala- 1 tsp
Cream/milk/curd- 1 tsp

How to make:
1. Boil the palak leaves with a dash of salt and make a puree
2. In a pan, add some oil and saute the onions & green chilli, once they turn golden brown, add the tomatoes and saute for a few more minutes.  [you can blend these if you wish]
3. To this add the spinach puree, salt, garam masala and allow it to cook
4. Add some cream/milk/curd just before you serve...

You can add palak to make it Palak paneer or potatoes if you desire. 

Bon Apettit!!

Thiruvathirai Special

Thiruvathirai, a star, also a festival celebrated in the marghazi masam [Dec-Jan] is a day when we celeberate the thandavam (cosmic dance) performed my Lord Shiva. Another side to this day is that it is Lord Shiva's star birthday today, the star being arudhra. The one thing i remember about Thiruvathirai is lunch menu, unfortunately it consists of items i dont like, well, these days i have a nibble and dont grunt as much. What is on the menu? Kali and Thalagam.. Sounds greek and latin, well, not really, but it is a wierd combination and mix of flavours.

We were in Delhi recently, and mom made Kali cos my uncle loves it and well, that was probably the 1st time i ate some on my own [with no one breathing down my neck] and actually liked it.. Hmm... so, today at lunch, i made myself some rotis and had a spoonful of kali as well :-) [Good girl i am]

Kali is a sweet dish, while Thalagam is a graavy made using 7/9/11/13/15 vegetables [something like a heavy duty sambar] 

How are these made? For the 1st time, i paid attention to mom and gramma when they explained the dishes. So, here goes..

Kali

What you need-

Raw Rice - 1 cup

Mung dal - 1 tbsp

Jaggery- 3/4 th cup

Butter-2 tbsp

Water - 2 to 3 cups

Coconut- 1 tbsp grated

Cashewnuts- fried in ghee

How to make Kali-

1. Wash and dry the rice 

2. Dry roast the rice and daal till the rice turns light golden.

3. Grind to a coarse powder or finely [depending on your preference]

4. In a kadai, add 2 cups of water to the jaggery and let it come to a boil. When it does, run it through a sieve to make sure there were no dust or foreign particles in the jaggery

5. To this liquid, add the rice - daal and coconut. Keep stirring and add water if you feel the mixture is too thick. Like Sooji upma, the rice will absorb the water, so dont worry if it looks runny. 

6. Stir for a good 15- 20mins till the rice cooks and starts releasing ghee around the corner. 

7. Sprinkle the fried cashewnuts and serve. 

Thalagam
What you need-

Vegetables of your choice- Today gramma used 15 veggies- Carrots, yellow pumpkin, beans, potato, sweet potato, arbi, butter beans, snake gourd, flat beans, string beans, brinjal, chow chow, raw banana and so many more.... [typically Indian veggies are used] - Chop them up into bite sized pieces.

Dry red chillies- 5 to 6 [depending on how spicy you like the dish] 

Toor dal - 1tbsp

Rice- 1/2tbsp

Coconut - 1/2 cup grated

Black Sesame seeds- 2tsp

Tamarind- the Size of a small lemon

Gingely oil- 2tsp

Mustard seeds- 1tsp

Salt- to taste

 

How to make the Thalagam-

1. Just like you make sambar, soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water for 5 - 10 minutes , squeeze and set aside the tamarind juice. 

2. In a pan, heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, allow to splutter and set aside. 

3. In the pan, add some more oil and add the toor daal, red chillies, rice, coconut and sesame seeds. Saute them till they all turn light brown colour and then grind to a fine powder. 

4. In the pressure cooker put all the chopped vegetables, tamarind juice, some salt and cook till they are tender. 

5. Now add the ground powder, and water if required. Mix and allow to cook well.  

 Note: The mix should not be too runny or light, it will be like a gravy/koottu. 

In with the new, out with the old at Tuscana in Chamiers

"hum chup nahin bait sakthe [we cant sit quiet]" is what Vipin says leads to such new concepts... The reason why they keep innovating, rolling out new dishes and coming up with interesting dishes. This time around, they have literally revamped their entire menu- adding a few new dishes, removing some and making sure customers are spoilt for choice. Oh, and did i mention there is a slash in prices as well? yep! There we were at Tuscana in Chamiers Road, with Chef Willi greeting us and ushering us in. Vipin explained the whole process of how their menu has changed, the new software they are creating in house which will keep track of stock, making it easy to monitor and audit and of the new plans they have for the days to come. 

But wait, you need to wait till Saturday before you can taste the new dishes. We got a sneak peek into what is to come and must tell you, some of the dishes are a treat for our senses.  After gulping down a glass of Orange-Cranberry juice, i was chatting away with Vipin and others in his team to understand the new menu and the changes to expect. 

The table was set with a few bowls of different kinds of Olives, some were stuffed while others were plain, few bread sticks and two martini glasses- Hummus and Salsa. The Hummus was divine, and i loved it with the bread stick.

The food began to arrive within minutes and the 1st plate to land on the table was Bruschetta- Crisp slices of bread with mushroom and assorted pepper topping, fresh and full of flavours. The next in line were the sinful  Cheese veg tarts- with cauliflowers, leeks and bell peppers, it was just amazing. 

And then came the much awaited, spoken about dish that Tuscana is famous for- their Pizzas. Apart from the plain white flour pizza, there were also a few Gluten free pizzas that came out of the kitchen. What else is new? Well, they are launching a range of Multi grain pizzas- quite good i must say. Was a bit skeptical, but i quite liked it- the texture, the flavours and the light base. I tried a slice from each of the pizza, and loved the one with the Broccoli on it. 

Just as the conversation flowed without a pause, so did the trays of food. The last to arrive were the dessert- coffee panna cotta [tasted a bit like instant coffee & was a tad strong] and vanilla panna cotta with blueberry compote[was yumm, but different from their usual panna cotta].  

We left the place wondering about the dishes that were going to disappear from the menu and of those that were making an entry.  As i walked down the spiral staircase, conversations flowed and so did the food from the kitchen.... 

Wishing Tuscana all the very best!!!

Location:

Tuscana

Chamiers Rd, Nandanam  Chennai

Adj to Park Sheraton Hotel, few doors down from Amma Nana Store.

Ph- 044 45038008

 

The 2nd outlet is 

Wallace Garden 3rd Street, Aayiram Vilakku  Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034

Ph- 044 4500 0008

[Recipe] Pottukadala Chutney

I wanted to make something for the Dosa, but was unsure what.. Couldnt make onion based as grandparents dont eat, so waited for gramma to return from temple visit.  Asked about chutney/thogayal options and she suggested making this with pottukadala..

What you need:Pottukadala[broken roasted gram] - 1 cup
Thengai thuruvinadhu [grated Coconut] - 1/5cup [or more]
Puli [Tamarind]- a small ball [size of  the new Rs5 coin]
Pachai milagai [Green chilli]- 3
Ennai [Oil]- 1 tsp
Kadugu [Mustard seeds]- 1tsp
Broken uluthamparuppu [urad daal]- 1tsp
Uppu [Salt]- to taste
Thanni [water]- to grind

Variation:
Poondu [garlic] -3 pods
Varutha Verkadala [roasted peanuts] - a handful

How to make:
1.In a pan do the tempering- add oil, mustard seeds and broken urad daal- let them splutter
Also add the green chillies, saute them slightly.
2.Remove the green chillies and add the other ingredients to it- pottukadala, coconut, tamarind, salt, and water [this is also when you add the garlic pods-no need to saute them]
3. grind to a paste [ texture depends on your preference, i like it a bit coarse]
4. Pour the tempering on top and serve

                                                Left- Garlic chutney and right is the plain one
Tastes yumm with Dosa, idli, poori, and even pongal.