Kozhukattai (Modak)- steamed rice dumplings with coconut, jaggery and cardamom filling

Undoubtedly my favorite dumpling. Early memories of this dumplings where during Ganesh Chaturthi (this is made as an offering to the elephant head Hindu god -Ganesha) when my cousins and me used to wait eagerly for the prayers to finish so that we could have the fragrant dumplings.

Dosa

Dosa is a perfect meal. It is light and crispy goodness and has healthful attributes.
It is a good eat anytime of the day. There are many varieties of this crêpe. My personal favorite is the one made with rice and lentil batter. There are many versions of Instant dosas like the whole wheat, Ragi(Millet)Dosa.

Dosa's have a huge array of chutneys and fillings we'll have a few to start with.My Mom makes the best Dosa's. She is a purist making the batter at home. Most homes in South India will have an electric wet grinder. In which they make batter for dosa, idli, appam etc...

Basic Dosa Batter

Par boiled rice (Ponni or Sona Masoori) - 2 cups

Whole urad dal cleaned(White)- 3/4 cup

Fenu greek -1/2 tsp

Salt- to taste

Singara Chennai

It is a great feel to be back home. I landed in the wee hours of the night and meet up with near and dear. Slept for a while and woke up to smell flowers blooming at the window near me. I needed to eat. Well folks I will be eating in all the off beaten and the less traveled places where the locals eat. This is stop number one. All I needed was comfort food and I couldn't think of a better Comfort food than Idli, Vada, Sambhar and Chutney.

Karuveppelai Era

Karuvepellai Era (Curry leaves scented Prawns)

This is a very simple and tasty recipe which I got from a grandmother when I was travelling in a village near Vellankani.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velankanni_Town. This town and other small fishing villages was devastated during the Tsunami in 2004.

It was about 6pm and I was walking through in this small fishing village where the fisherman arrive on catamarans with their daily catch in the evenings. I saw the Annai Patti (grand mother)was sitting outside her hut and grilling some prawns on her earthen stove. I was curious and went and spoke to her. She was really warm was willing to share her recipe. I came to know that she had lost her family in the Tsunami and the local fisherman have been taking care after her.

Filter Coffee

Best thing in the morning is of steaming hot filter coffee. I love when the smell wafts through it is divine.

The Coorg Mountains in Southern India is famous for its coffee plantations.It is truly paradise.
The coffee roasted on a low temperature for a prolonged duration of time. It gives it a intense aroma. This coffee is meant for the aficionados(no decaf)

Child hood memories create a coffee craving. Growing up parents never used give us coffee due to the caffeine factor is what I concluded lately. In my neighborhood Mylapore there is a lot of little coffee roastery so the kids used to hang out late evening when the coffee bean used to get roasted.



Things Required...
Decoction
Coffee Filter
Coffee powder - 2 tbsp (Palntation A and Phebery blend)
Boiling water - to fill the top section
Filter Coffee
Milk
Sugar
Davara and Tumbler(Traditional Utensils)
The Hindu or your favorite newspaper Optional

How to go about preparing your filter coffee...


Place coffee powder in the filter section and add boiling water , close the lid and allow it to precolate.

After 10 minutes your coffe decoction is ready.

Pour the decoction into a tumbler and add sugar and hot milk.

Stretch the coffee into the davara(cup) and allow it to froth.

The most fragrant South Indian Filter coffee is ready to give your day a head start.



Coming up... Summer Barbecue...

Sun Chokes

This is a beautiful vegetable and really versatile. At first I had used this vegetable when I was working in Abu Dhabi. On my day off I love making a soup with sun chokes. I had wanted to try this out like Mulligatawny style. This is a classic soup from the Raj Cuisine which the British brought to fame from India.

I was in Seattle taking a break with my best buddies Joel and Sarah and my sister Vanitha. We had been to the UDub Farmers Market found some rustic sun chokes. It is a great feel when you find such awesome produce.

Spring time of plenty

After weeks of hard work and many trials and development the food has finally evolved. Many of the recipes come to me in my dream when I keep thinking about food. I scribble it immediately and the next day I go to my chef to share the ideas.

I'm really fortunate to be working with my chef . He is a class apart. Always supports and encourages ideas which keeps me going.

A long time passion of mine is to travel to remote villages in India in search of old recipes. Where I spend time with the cooks who have been doing these recipes day in and day out. I really admire how with great humility the are willing to share these recipes.