Urulai roast (my appa's recipe)

Urulaikizhangu is potato in tamil.


Urulaikizhangu roast in an Iron wok

Ingredients:

Potatoes ------1/2 Kg
Curd ----1/4cup
Chilli powder ---2 tea spoon/according to your taste
Turmeric powder ------ 1/2 tea spoon
Salt ---- to taste
Powdered asafoetida----- a pinch
Sugar ----- 1 teaspoon
Cooking medium --- 2 table spoon

Method:

First boil the potatoes,chop them and keep aside.

Mix chilli powder,turmeric,asafoetida,salt and sugar in curd and blend them well.

Marinate the chopped potatoes in the blended mix for ½ hour.

Heat the wok with two table spoon of cooking medium.

Drop the marinated potatoes in the heated wok and fry them till it turns brown.

Tastes good when done in an Iron wok.

Variation: Instead of dicing the potatoes, you can try it with mashed potatoes. This is a recipe customized by my dad who loves cooking. My son has voted this as the ‘ World’s best potato curry’ and he says it tastes good only when his thatha (grand pa) makes this.

Mani Gulab salad & Mango (leaves) tea

Here are two recipes which I have noted from "Theneer neram'- a cookery show which i saw on Podhigai(tamil) channel. These recipes were demonstrated by S.R. Kishore kumar.



Mani Gulab Salad (immunizes you from cold and cough)

Ingredients:

Petals of paneer rose ( not the regular rose) ------1/2 cup(good for internal organs(heart,lungs,kidney) keeps the skin radiant and is a good toner.

Ripe manathakkali ------ 15-20 fruits (cures mouth ulcer,good digestive aid)For more info on Manathakkali see here

Yogurt ------------ 1 cup( thick curd to be filtered in a muslin cloth and the residue is to be used)

Honey /Jaggery syrup

Paneer rose petals to be mixed with yogurt and blended well. To this add the honey syrup and sprinkle with ripe manathakkali.

(Note well: Don't use the regular rose petals, it might be coated with pesticides. Wash the petals thoroughly)

The above salad immunizes you against cold and coughs.



The second recipe is a hot concoction of mango leaves,tulsi and green tea which is rich in anti-oxidants.

Mango Green tea


Tender mango leaves ------- 1 tea spoon(kills bacteria, helps to regain stamina post fever)

Tulsi leaves ------------------ 5-6 leaves

Green tea --------------------- ½ teaspoon

Panam karkand/palm sugar( catch its properties here)

Boil 1 cup of water, to this add the mango leaves and allow it to boil for 5 minutes and switch off the stove.
Now add tulsi leaves & green tea. Cover it with a lid for 2 minutes.

Filter the tea and sweeten it with cane sugar

Kothamalli rasam

Kothamalli is coriander in Tamizh and rasam is soup




Ingredients:

A bunch of coriander with stem (chop the roots and clean the coriander under running water)
Garlic (optional) ---3 pods
Ginger ------------- ½ inch
Tomatoes --------- 1 big (add more if you want it tangier)
Juice extracted from marble sized tamarind
Pepper powder ---- 1 Table spoon (can add more if you want it spicier)
Roasted Cumin Powder ---- 1tea spoon

For seasoning

Ghee ----1 spoon
Cumin seeds ---1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
asafoetida


Grind fresh coriander, garlic,ginger and tomatoes together into a fine paste.

Transfer the paste along with tamarind water into a dish. Heat them till the raw smell of the ingredients fade.

Now add 2-3 cups of water to the rasam and bring them to boil till it froths up.

Add the pepper, cumin powder , Salt and asafoetida (hing) and boil them for just a minute or two.

Close the dish with a lid so that the vapours are not let out. The pepper and Cumin will infuse their flavor into the rasam

Season the rasam with jeera spluttered in ghee.

This is a healthy easy to make rasam for the rainy season, especially builds immunity for children and keeps away colds and coughs.

Tastes good with rice and ghee or it can be served like a soup.

You can variate by replacing tamarind with lemon. But in this case the lemon juice should be added in the end along with pepper and cumin powder, If you boil lemon juice it will leave behind its bitterness.

N.B: Photo shows kothamalli rasam in Iya chombu(an alloy of lead and silver). Traditionally tamizh households prepare rasam in an iya chombu since the vessel imparts traces of the metal silver.