Bonda Morkuzhambu / Spiced Yogurt Curry with Soft melt-in-the-mouth Dumplings!

This is a dish I take much pride in! The traditional Morkuzhambu recipe is same in every house hold, length and breadth of T.N, especially in the kitchens of our community. 'Bonda Morkuzhambu' is a preferred delicacy dish which is served between sambhar and rasam in a full leaf meal course for weddings and traditional ceremonies.

This is a curry I can always claim to be an expert on. 'Morkuzhambu' and 'Paruppu Thuvaiyal' mostly falls under my Sunday brunch menu since it is the alltime family favourite!
I have posted our family version of 'Morkuzhambu' a long time back, during my earlier blogging days and the  recipe elaborated here is about how to make the 'melt-in-the-mouth bondas' or the soft dumplings that are soaked in the 'kuzhambu'.
As you can see, these 'bondas', which is popular in my circle, are 'vadai balls' made with whole urad dal and not a combination of lentils.

How to make the Morkuzhambu or the Spiced Yogurt Curry?

The recipe is here, as mentioned earlier.

How to make 'Bondas' (vada balls / dumplings) ?

Read More »

Tweet

Savoury Kugelhopf

A Kugelhopf (also spelt as Kugelhupf, Gugelhupf or Kugelhoph) is a yeasted sweet cake well known in the Alsace region of France, as well as in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and variations of this are also found in some countries of Eastern Europe. The most common story about the Kugelhopf is that Marie Antoinette, the lady of the “let them eat cake” fame, brought it from her home country Austria, to France upon her marriage to King Louis XVI.

Read More »

Tweet

Spicy and Flavourful 3 minute Coconut Garlic Powder!

I am confused how to name it! Thenga podi to please the Keralites?  Thengai Podi to please the Tamilians? Or just the rightly named Thekkaye Podi which amma calls and makes for us from the time I can remember. She is unsure of the the nativity of this simple side dish: whether Kerala, Tamil or Andhra, but sticks on to the recipe which was my granpa's (her mama's or father-in law's) favourite side dish for dosas.

How soon can you make this ready?

Within 3 minutes! For certain, if you have grated coconut ready in the chiller.
I make this quick accompaniment while the idly is being steamed or the dosa getting cooked on the stove and my family with dinner plates on the dining table!

Read More »

Tweet

Baked Eggless Donuts

After Croissants the family choice is doughnuts or donuts for quick filling bites on the go while abroad trips. They are easy to be be tucked in our back packs and serve as anytime munch with no much mess. After every US visit I have a strong urge to try them and I you hadn't come across this winner recipe of fried homemade donuts (with egg), they're there still staying warm.

National Doughnut Day is celebrated in the US on the first Friday of June which was June 1st this year, so perhaps it’s somewhat apt that the We Knead To Bake group is baking yeasted doughnuts chosen by Aparna this month. Baked Donuts are the ones which I haven't tried so far and I am excited to have it around.

So now to talk about baked Doughuts, what type you make is entirely up to you. You can make plain cinnamon sugar ones, jam filled ones or even glazed ones. You are free to use any glaze of your choice. You can try sugar gazes, chocolate glazes or be more adventurous with them. Here are some recipes for glazes.

You need to be a bit careful about a couple of things when making these doughnuts. The first thing is make sure your dough is 1/2” thick before cutting out your doughnuts. Also make sure that the doughnuts do not lose their shape when you transfer them from your work surface to the baking sheets or you will end up with “wonky” looking doughnuts when they bake! Also make sure that whatever you use to cut the doughnuts is sharp so that it makes it easy to lift them off. Also that you do not too much of a twisting motion while cutting them out, as these can cause your doughnuts to not rise properly.

Baked Yeasted Doughnuts
Adapted from Lara Ferroni’s Doughnuts
Makes about 12 to 14 doughnuts and holes

Read More »

Tweet

Masal Vadai ~ Deep-fried spiced-up Channa Dal Patties

I am still trying hard to bring out the exact English translation of the Tamils' Masal Vadai.
Spiced up lentil dumplings? lentil patties? dal patties? extra spiced version of paruppu vadai? the step brother to  Malayalee's Parippu Vada? I am unusually losing words for a simple description for this humble snack!
Hope the one on top with title which am (still) editing is fair enough :)

Paruppu vadais used to be and still are a regular tea-timesnack in my in-laws' house. Ma-in-law makes them in a jiffy. I see her entering the kitchen and breezing out with a plateful of hot vadais in the evenings, at least once a week. Honestly I had never been a fan of those paruppu vadais those days or even until this moment. They were bland, non-spicy with a gross flavour of dal that they were devoid of onions, garlic, ginger or even cilantro; the natural flavour enhancers of a South Indian recipe.
Neverthelessly the vadas were crispy enough while hot and the imperfectly shaped patties added to the taste while washed along down the throat with hot sips of chai those days.

Read More »

Tweet