THENKUZHAL | MURUKKU - STEP BY STEP RECIPE

 

Mostly we all make thenkuzhal for diwali or some special occasions. I love this murukku since my childhood days.I used to do all the pre preparatory works like buying rice and dal , grinding it in flour mill etc..I sit with my mom & paati when they make this for diwali especially for the last batch of murukku .. She makes half cooked murukku( we call it "arai vekkaadu" in tamil) . I love this murukku more than the crispy ones. I eat it hot immediately after taking out from the oil.Even today , my MIL made this specially for me..How sweet !! .I saw so many thenkuzhal recipes in web with different proportions of rice and urad dal . I want to share my version.I tried to take step by step pics for beginners. I really admire our fellow bloggers who blog recipes with step by step pics for each and every post. They have so much of patience and skill to do this. I really don't have both .For sweets and savouries step by step presentation is most essential i feel. Hope this post helps beginners. Feel free to leave ur comments about my presentation.I will improve in my further posts. Now coming to my version..

INGREDIENTS

Raw rice / Maavu arisi – 1 kg or  5 cups Round white urad dal – 3/4 cup Fried gram dal / pottukadalai – 1 handful Butter – 4 tbsp or 100 gms Asafetida / hing – 1/2 tsp Jeera / cumin seeds or Black sesame seeds – 2 tbsp Salt & water – As needed. Cooking oil – for deep frying..

"""PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT THE "POINTS TO REMEMBER" BEFORE STARTING.."""

METHOD

Heat a kadai and dry roast urad dal slightly without changing its colour. Roast till nice aroma comes from urad dal. Switch off the flame and add the fried gram dal. Now mix the rice, roasted urad dal and fried gram dal. Grind in flour mill or powder it in mixie. If u use mixie to grind the mixture, please don't forget to sieve the flour. Flour should be very fine in texture. Add salt , melted butter, hing , jeera or sesame seeds and water to make a non sticky dough. Take the murukku press and mould with one whole. Fill the dough and set aside.Heat the oil in a broad kadai and and press the murukku in circular motion directly in oil or press the murukku in a polythene sheet or in the back of ladle separately and then drop in hot oil. This way u get a nice shape. After u press the murukku , please stand a few feet away from the kadai.Sometimes , very rarely murukku may burst like seedai . If it doesn't burst, then proceed. Cook for sometime.Flip and cook for some more time till the hiss sound and bubbles ceases . Do it in medium flame.Adjust the flame whenever needed. Remove and drain in a paper towel..Store in an air tight container after it cools down. Don't forget to try the half cooked murukku in the last batch. For this after u drop the murukku in oil , just flip immediately and remove in 10 secs.. Eat it hot !! White colored , crispy thenkuzhal is ready to enjoy !!

Points to remember

When u make murukku in large quantities , make the dough in batches to avoid the dough from drying.Also cover the dough with a damp cloth or a lid while cooking murukku. This helps in getting white colored murukku for all the batches. Otherwise color may vary for the last batches. We have added fried gram dal and butter to get the crispness & white color . But usually fried gram dal is not added in thenkuzhal.Its purely optional. Adding too much of butter makes the murukku look oily and becomes soggy very soon.Shelf life gets reduced. Adding more urad dal flour or too much of roasting the urad dal results in dark colored murukku.So make sure u roast the urad dal without changing the color.. If u use store bought rice flour and urad dal flour , the ratio would be 6:1.No need to roast the urad dal flour if it is ready made. The murukku flour should be very fine in texture otherwise it may burst while cooking. So i always sieve the flour for safer side Use enough oil for deep frying. Add more oil after few batches if necessary. Drop or press the murukku only when the oil becomes hot. U can find this by dropping a pinch of flour. It raises up quickly.This is the correct heating point. Do not let the oil fume. Always keep the flame in medium for even cooking. Instead of pressing in oil directly , u can try pressing it in the back of ladle greased with oil or greased polythene sheets. This way u'll get nice shape..  After cooking when u break the murukku , u can c a hole in the middle of the murukku like  funnel. This denotes the murukku is perfect !!

Can u see the hole  . Catch u in my next post. Bye. Have a gr8 weekend

Technorati Tags: Thenkuzhal murukku,white Murukku,Diwali snacks,Murukku step by step pics,thenkuzhal recipe with step by step pics.Tips to get white thenkuzhal.

New & Notable Chocolate

'Eat food. Not too much. Mostly chocolate.'
--Debbie Moose



Each holiday season there are new chocolates and I am first in line to try as many as I can. This year there were so many I packed them all up and took them to Thanksgiving dinner to let my friends and family try them too. Here are the highlights:

I adore Kika's Treats. Kika is one of the most successful graduates of the La Cocina incubator program in San Francisco. Her caramelized graham crackers dipped in chocolate are unique and a wonderful melange of buttery toffee and rich chocolate. But her latest confection is equally compelling.


Luscious caramels dipped in dark chocolate with a pinch of sea salt and a surprising twist. They are lightened up with the addition of puffed brown rice that gives them the perfect crunch. A 9-piece assortment is just $16 (and the box is absolutely adorable)

Another local favorite confectioner, Michael Recchiuti is also known for his terrific caramel truffles which are so dark he calls them 'burnt.' No gooey treat, his version is intense.


Adding to the line up of chocolate confections are bars, made from Valrhona chocolate. While I liked the classic all chocolate bars in bittersweet, semisweet and dark milk for their purity of flavor, I really fell for his bars with crunchy and chewy additions. My favorites were the sesame nougatine bar and the orchard bar. The orchard bar has a bewitching mix of currants, mulberries and toasted almonds. It's like the grown up version of the Nestle chunky bar. The sesame bar also has crispness to it and a lovely nougat flavor. Recchuiti is masterful at toasting and roasting nuts to bring out their best flavor and texture so it's no surprise that all his bars with nuts were good. At only $6 a bar, they are a very affordable indulgence.


Chocolates with liqueur are always a holiday favorite. The most recent addition is a truffle made with the Italian liqueur Frangelico. Frangelico is a beguiling hazelnut liqueur that also includes hints of cocoa, vanilla and berries. It's complex but mellow and pairs wonderfully with chocolate. Marie Belle is making exquisitely beautiful chocolate tiles with a Frangelico truffle ganache. They are not boozy, but rich, creamy and subtle. If you like Frangelico, you will love them. They are available in boxes, starting at $15 for 4.

DO NOT REPRINT WITHOUT PERMISSION! ©2011 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy, the Oyster Local blog or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/sBff/~3/jfd1QGDaEQ4/slow-cooker-tips-for-dummies.html

I'm going to be posting a recipe for slow cooker beef pot roast tomorrow, and in anticipation I was checking out a few related videos on YouTube. I've always assumed the people who write those 'For Dummies' books must be really smart, but based on this, I may have to reconsider.

It's been a long while since I posted a video just to poke fun at it, but I couldn't resist. Just for fun, see how many strange, disturbing, wrong, and/or crazy things you see and hear in this offering from Dummies.com (btw, the glass cutting board doesn't count). Enjoy!

VAZHAITHANDU /BANANA STEM JUICE - SWEET AND SALT VERSION

I really got bored of making thogayal, pachadi and poriyal with vazhaithandu.My husband hates to eat vazhaithandu just becoz it takes so much time to chew n eat ;). I heard drinking vazhaithandu juice in empty stomach is one of the healthiest way to include in our diet. Its a hassle free job too.Last month when i went to my native ,we tasted this juice in a famous restaurant. We loved it.It was mild in sweet and served chilled.We couldn't find out its the juice of vazhaithandu .I wanted to try the same at home.I tried sweet and salt versions. Both were excellent. I dint serve it cold , i made at room temperature.So its ur choice  !!

 

SWEET JUICE

Plantain stem /Vazhaithandu - 1 /2 no (medium size) Boiled Milk - 1/2 cup (adjust) Sugar - 2 tbsp Water- If necessary

 

Method

Remove the outer layer of vazhaithandu till core ( At this point u dont have layers to remove). Cut into rings while removing the fibre simultaneously that comes between the rings . Chop into small pieces .Grind with sugar and milk.Add more milk & sugar if necessary. Strain in a double cloth filter.Pour in a serving glass. Serve it chilled or at room temperature !!

 

SALT VERSION

INGREDIENTS

Vazhaithandu - 1/2 no (medium size) Sour curd - 2tbsp Salt & water - As needed Pepper powder - 2 pinches (optional) Coriander leaves - To garnish

METHOD

Repeat steps 1 and 2 given in the above version and cut the stem into pieces and immerse in buttermilk to avoid color change. Grind the pieces along with curd and salt. Add more water , whisk and strain in a double cloth filter. Pour in a serving glass and  garnish with little coriander leaves serve chill!!

 

NOTE

1. Drinking vazhathandu juice alone doesnot help u to shed ur weight. U have to carry on the other things like diet .excercise etc.
2. U can prepare the juice in another way .

• Grind the Banana stem with salt , pepper powder and lime juice. Filter and enjoy !! Hope this method sounds easier.

KITCHEN CLINIC

PLANTAIN STEM / VAZHAITHANDU A potassium rich food with high fiber content and it has many other amazing health benefits.       Most people include banana in their daily diet, but very few have ever thought of including banana stem. The banana stem has many nutritive and health benefits. The stem is usually thrown away once the fruit is cut from the plant. So next time if you happen to find one, think of including it in your menu. Here are some good health reasons why banana stem must be part and parcel of your diet at least on occasions. Banana stem is rich in fiber and helps weight loss.  Due to rich content, it helps body to feel full faster.  The intake of food gets reduced by including banana stem to diet.  It can be taken in the form of juice, but eating it as a whole provides more benefits. Including it once or twice a week can help people looking for ways to cut down extra pounds. Like banana, banana stem is also rich in potassium and vitamin B6.  Vitamin B6 helps production of chemicals such as hemoglobin and insulin. Again, it improves the ability of body to fight against infection. Potassium helps effective functioning of muscles including cardiac muscles, prevents high blood pressure, helps nerve impulses and maintains fluid balance within the body. It is a diuretic and helps detoxify the body. Some believe that banana stem can prevent and treat kidney stones. This is fact under study and the effectiveness has not been proven by the western world. It can be taken as a laxative for constipation. Again, the rich fiber content prevents constipation. It cools the body. So overall, banana stem does wonders to our body. How to include them in diet? Very tender ones can be used in salads and not so tender ones can be added to soups or as a steamed vegetable.   Slicing banana stem for dishes might be hard work, but it provides unmatchable health benefits.Its a cooling agent to our body , so use it weekly twice is recommended.

Technorati Tags: Banana stem,plantain stem juice,Vazhathandu juice,Banana stem benefits,plantain stem benefits.

Alaska Diary Day One

Welcome to Cordova, a remote Alaskan town Southeast of Anchorage. The population is around 2,000 people (though it swells to around double that in the Summer during salmon season). The life of the town is tied to the Copper River. Salmon fishing is not just an important part of the economy but a way of life.

It's a place where you go for a hike instead of going to the movies and host a potluck instead of making dinner reservations and wear Xtratuf boots all year round. People fish, forage, hunt. And the annual festivals celebrate things like salmon, wild berries and fungus (at the fungus festival you can win a prize for the best mushroom themed decorated pair of Xtratuf boots!). There are scientists, fishermen and processors, environmental advocates and a whole lot of overlap between them all.

Cordova is also the home of the Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association, Alaska's first regional seafood development association and host of my trip.


'In Alaska, you are never more than 5 minutes away from being cold and wet,' someone told me the night I arrived. And true enough, it was grey and drizzling when I landed on a connecting flight from Anchorage (you can only get to Cordova by flight or ferry).


First thing after breakfast we head to the dining room of the Orca Adventure Lodge to meet our fishing guide. While we wait, what do we food bloggers get excited about? A massive 113 year old diesel powered stove named Bertha that we spy in the kitchen.


...and the engaging chef, Jeremy Storm, who told us about the challenges of shopping and cooking in a far off Alaskan outpost.


Intrepid food bloggers, we steeled ourselves and cast our lines. The zen of fishing is irresistible. You are at one with nature and catching a fish doesn't even matter. The only one that got pulled from the water by a neighboring fisherman got thrown right back in but it provided a little excitement all the same. My fish? He got away!


Alaskan haute couture aka Copper River Fleece.


Does this tell you how important restaurant culture is in Cordova? (note the spelling on the sign)


I was told by a fisherman that the favorite wine in Cordova is 'Take me to Hawaii!' I think most folks will have to settle for Baja Taco, even though it's only open during the Summer.


The tacos are filled with Copper River salmon, but of course.


When not catching fish or eating them, you can print with them, especially if you get instructions from local gyotaku artist Pat McGuire.

Note:The unwitting model in the photos is none other than Joelen of What's Cooking Chicago?, another blogger on the trip.

A huge thanks to Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association for hosting me in Cordova. If you enjoyed this post, check out Day Two...

DO NOT REPRINT WITHOUT PERMISSION! ©2011 Cooking with Amy. All rights reserved. This material may NOT be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. If you are reading this post somewhere other than Cooking with Amy, the Oyster Local blog or Gather.com, then the site where you found this post is illegally publishing copyrighted material.