Theratti Paal

Theratti paal is a simple dish, that involves only two ingredients - milk and sugar.
But the taste of it makes me feel like ambrosia.



Ingredients (Serves 3):

Milk - 1.5 litres
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tsp


Method:

1. Take a heavy bottomed clean kadai and pour the milk into it. A non-stick kadai is preferrable.
2. When the milk comes to a boil, simmer the flame and let it be in the same condition for another 30-40 mins. Care should be taken to see that the milk does not stick to the bottom as it thickens.
3. When the consistency of the milk is thick and layers of cream begin to form, add the sugar. Mix it with milk. Let the flame be in the simmered state for another 20-25 mins.
4. Now, the milk and sugar would have blended well to form a semi-solid form that now no liquid would be floating around. Add a tsp of ghee into the mixture and remove it from flame.
   

The subtle taste of this dish itself is heavenly that it is consumed without making any variations of adding any extra ingredients.

If needed, 1/4 tsp of cardamom powder can be added after adding the ghee.

Tomato and Capsicum Curry

I thought I should do some justice to my blog url for naming it Capsicum and Tomatoes.

Well, my stint with cooking a meal (or something like that) began with tomatoes and capsicum !

I fondly recollect those days when we girls rented a house at Velachery, where our cooking saga began with the Tomato and Capsicum Curry..

I love this dish for the ease of preparation, the simple and fulfilling taste it offers with the splash of red and green color - a humble feast in itself :)

Here we go!

Tomato and Capsicum Curry

Ingredients (Serves 2):

Diced Tomatoes - 4
Capsicum (Green bell pepper) diced into medium squares - (remove seeds)
Sambar powder - 2 tsp
Mustard- 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Refined oil -1 tsp
Salt -As per requirement

Method:

1. Heat oil in kadai. When the oil heats up, add mustard and urad dal
2. When the mustard splutters, add the diced capsicum, stir fry till the capsicum is softened but still a little crisp.
3. Then add diced tomatoes and sambar powder and salt. Cook on a low medium flame for 3-4 mins, until the tomato softens.

Once cooked, remove from flame.

This dish goes well with rice, dosa. Also it tastes best when served with rotis and creamy yoghurt.

Kothumalli (Coriander leaves) Thuvaiyal

Kothumalli is our very own Coriander Leaves. These leaves add distinct flavor to Indian dishes, especially the South Indian delicacy, Rasam , leaving you slurping Rasam on your plates.

Thuvaiyal is a kind of Indian pesto, consisting of edible leaves/vegetable and a mix of sauteed spices best served with rice.

Kothumalli Thuvaiyal

Ingredients (Serves 3):

Coriander - 2 bunches
Pudina (Mint) leaves - Handful
Mustard -1 tsp
Urad dal - 2 tsp
Toor dal - 1 tsp
Dried Red chillies - 1 (seeds removed)
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - 1 marble sized ball
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Gingelly oil - 2 tbsp
Refined oil - 1 tsp
Water - 1 glass
Salt - As per requirement

Method:

1. Wash the bunch of corainder leaves and chop them into pieces along with the slender stem.
2. Heat the kadai (wok), add refined oil. when the oil heats up, add urad dal, toor dal, cumin seeds and the dried red chilly in that order.
3. Once the dals added begin turn light brown, turn off the gas and allow the spice mix to cool.
4. Then add coriander leaves, mint leaves, coconut, tamarind, spice mix, salt and water in the mixie jar and grind it into a fine paste.
5. Heat the kadai and add gingelly oil. When the oil heats up, add mustard seeds.
6. Once the mustard seeds begin to splutter, transfer the paste from the mixie jar onto the kadai.
7. This should be cooked in the kadai till the oil separates from the paste.
   

Serve kothumalli thuvaiyal with steaming rice.

Note: This dish can also be prepared without coconut. If coconut is not used, the shelf-life of the thuvaiyal is long.