Peerkangai chutney / Ridge gourd chutney

Peerkangai chutney

When I was looking for a healthy vegetable chutney recipe in internet, I came across with this ridge gourd chutney. I made few modifications and tried this chutney at home to serve as a side dish for idli and dosa. It turned out to a tasty and yummy chutney. Ridge gourd is commonly known as peerkangai in tamil and it has plenty of health benefits. Listing few here:

• Ridge gourd is extremely rich in dietary fiber and enriched with all the vital elements that include Vit-C, Zinc, Iron, Riboflavin, Magnesium, Thiamin and traces of another minerals.
• It is low in saturated fat, cholesterol and calories that aids in weight loss.
• Ridge gourd contains good content of cellulose and high in water content that helps to relieve from constipation and healing piles.
• It is good for skin care, as the blood purifying qualities in it ensures you to stay clear from pimples and acne.

Health benefits courtesy: healthandbloom.com

Ingredients (serves for 3)

Peerkangai / Ridge gourd - 1 medium size

onion (big size) - 1

green chili - 4

garlic - 1

oil - 3 tsp

mustard seeds - 1 tsp

urad dal - 3 tsp

curry leaves - few

salt - as needed

tamarind - 1.5 inch piece

Method:

• Peel off the sharp edges of ridge gourd skin, slit it and take out the seed part inside . cut into small pieces
• chop onion and slit the green chilies
• soak tamarind in little water
  
• heat 2 tsp of oil in a vessel and add 2 tsp of urad dal, chopped onion, garlic and green chilies
  
• fry till the onion become transparent
  
• add the chopped ridge gourd and sprinkle some water on it
  
• add salt and cook covered till the ridge gourd becomes soft and cooked
  
• switch off the flame and let it cool down 
• once it is cooled, grind it to a fine paste along with the soaked tamarind piece
  
• heat 1 tsp of oil and add mustard seeds, 1 tsp of urad dal and curry leaves
• once it splutters, add it to the grounded chutney
• serve as a side dish for idli and dosa. 

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Lauki halwa / Bottlegourd halwa / Sorakkai halwa

Lauki halwa

Bottlegourd, widely known as Lauki in Hindi and sorakkai in tamil. We can make plenty of dishes using bottlegourd. One of the hit recipes using bottlegourd is Bottlegourd biryani . Other than the usual curries with bottlegourd, wanted to try my hands on sweet. And it came out very well, and the taste was excellent. Try out this yummy dessert at your home and share your feedback in the comments section below.

Ingredients (serves 2)

Bottlegourd / lauki / sorakkai (shredded) - 1 1/2 cup    [ 1 cup size = 150 ml ]

milk - 1 cup

sugar - 1/2 cup

cashews - 10 -12 nos

elachi powder (cardamom powder) - a pinch

food color - a pinch (optional)

ghee - 4 tsp

Method:

• Heat ghee in a vessel and add cashews
  
• fry till the cashews become golden brown in color. once the color changed, take out the cashews from the ghee
• In the same ghee, add the shredded bottlegourd
  
• saute till the bottlegourd becomes transparent and then add milk
  
• cook till the milk thickens
  
• add sugar and mix well
  
• add food color if needed and then add elachi powder
  
• cook till ghee oozes out.
  
   
• switch off the flame and garnish it with fried cashews
• serve as a dessert. 

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Phulka (Soft and flat wheat breads)

Phulka

Phulka - also known as roti or chappathi is a soft, flat bread made of wheat flour, popular in several regions in India. Initially I thought, making phulka is a very difficult task but after trying out 2, 3 times, it became easy and everyone prefers to have roti this way. Making roti this way gives a soft and fluffy chappathi and it remains soft for a longer time.

Ingredients (makes around 9 phulkas)

Wheat flour - 2 cups (1 cup size = 150 ml) and some more flour for dusting

salt - as needed

water - as needed

Method:

• mix salt and wheat flour together
  
• add water little by little and make a smooth dough. Dough has to be loose and moist. 
   
• cover the dough with a wet cloth for 30 minutes
  
• after 30 minutes, dust it with some flour, kneed well and make equal size balls of small lemon size.
  
• dust some flour on the rolling board and pin 
• roll the dough balls to thin flat circle. Sprinkle some flour for easy rolling. 
  
• heat a pan and put the roti (pan has to be real hot for making phulkas)
  
• turn over in few seconds and cook until the ends start lifting up
  
• turnover now and you will see some brown spots
  
• remove the pan and place the roti wire rack on the flame. Place the less cooked side of the phulkas on the rack, the phulka will start puffing up now. You can use the wire rack on both direct flame stove and  electric stove top or electric coil top. You can also keep it in direct flame, but that needs lot more practice to make perfect phulkas. 

• Once the phulka starts puffing up, remove the rack from the flame and place the phulka in a plate. 
• Now place the pan back on the flame and cook rest of the phulkas
• Serve hot with dal tadka, raita or any other side dish.
• If you are going to eat the phulkas later, then you can apply some ghee over each phulka and cover it with a lid. Phulkas will remain soft. 
  

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