1001 Podis in Tamil

Finally, after numerous requests, here's the first One page cookbook in Tamil. More to follow... The English version is here . Click the image for to view and print the cookbook.
 

All One page cookbooks follow the same format. Learn one, and you've learnt them all. Each One page cookbook lists 1000 recipes numbered from 000 to 999. (For example recipe number 200 is Thengai Milagai Podi, 500 is Kollu Podi, 420 is Poondu podi and so on). The first digit denotes the base ( column 1), second digit denotes the flavouring ( column 2) and the third denotes additives ( column 3).  The preparation of all these recipes is identical as explained in the master recipe. 

For example, in this case, choose any base from column 1, any flavouring from column 2 and  any additive from column 3. Add all to a mixie ( blender). Add two dry red chilies, two pinches of salt and blend to a fine / coarse powder. Eat mixed with hot rice and ghee or as a side dish with idli / dosa . Delicious !

You might also want to check out Tamil cuisine calendar Part 1 & Part 2. Almost everything you've ever eaten and would ever eat is here  :)

Interesting Podi recipes from fellow bloggers...

Praveena's Vazakkai Podi

Priya's Coconut Podi

Indosungod's Kollu Podi

Indira's Peanut Podi

Abi's Ellu Podi

Rekha's Pottu Kadalai Podi

PS' Karuvepilai Podi

Jayashree's Karuveppilai Podi

Pickles from the British Raj

Pickles of the British Raj

The British steeped Indian fruits and vegetables in vinegar along with mild Indian spices to create a range of fusion pickles.  They do not use mustard powder / chili powder used in almost all Indian pickles and so are very mild by Indian standards.

 

1.:  Red Cabbage Pickle  .

2.:  Red Cauliflower Pickle

3.:  Bombay Onion Pickle 

4.:  Dry Mango Pickle  

5.:  Sweet Mango Pickle 

6.:  Mint Flavoured Vinegar 

7.:  Chili Vinegar 

8.:  Dates pickle

9.: Tamarind Fish Pickle 

10.: Whole Mango Pickle

Simple Pounded Chutneys

Travel cooking / cooking with basic equipment While planning on a All India trip on my motorbike, I started collecting /developing recipes which can be prepared on the road / hotel room / train / while camping or anywhere with the most basic equipment. A simple pestle and mortar, a knife and a grater is all you need to prepare a variety of chutneys listed here. These make ideal recipes for those with no kitchen / students living in hostels. 5 minutes of pounding and patience is all you need to cook these.   Pounded chutneys taste much better than the ones blended in a blender. This is because a high speed blender heats up and partially cooks the food. The difference in taste is dramatic in coconut chutneys.   A pestle and mortar is also a great way to grind up very small quantities of spices.   The following recipes are listed in this cookbook : 1.: Mint / Cilantro / Tamarind leaves chutney. 2.: Mango chutney. 3.: Pottukadalai Chutney 4.: Groundnut / Sesame / Cashew chutney. 5.: Coconut chutney. 6.: Radish Chutney 7.: Shallots /Onion / Garlic chutney 8.: Baby Tamarind pod chutney 9.: Grilled vegetable bharta

Simple Vacuum Flask Recipes

Click the image on the left to see the cookbook. This cookbook lists 10 simple recipes designed to be cooked in a vacuum flask, graded from easy to tough. The following recipes are listed : 

1.:  Instant Soup 

2.:  Instant noodles

3.:  Oatmeal  

4.:  Poached eggs / Boiled Eggs

5.:  Yogurt 

6.:  Sprouts  

7.:  Mung dal Curry  

8.:. Plain rice

9.:  Millets / Bulgur / Barley  

10.: Vegetable rice  

 

Cooking with basic equipment While planning on a All India trip on my motorbike, I started collecting /developing recipes which can be prepared on the road / hotel room / train / while camping or almost anywhere with the most basic equipment. I was thrilled to find out that a thermos flask filled with boiling water is all you need to cook up a complete meal, wherever you are! So these make ideal recipes for those with no kitchen / students living in hostels / travelers. Cooking in a thermos flask Almost anything which can be cooked with boiling water on a stove top can be cooked in a thermos flask. A thermos flask in fact behaves like a pot of boiling water. Since it is insulated, the trapped heat is not lost. This retained heat is sufficient to cook many recipes. Though it takes much longer than stove top cooking, the conveniences far outweigh the longer cooking time. It uses 90% less fuel, can be used anywhere, has no odour, no heat and requires no supervision / stirring. Food always comes out edible and there is no chance of over cooking. And best of all, you can have piping hot food, whenever and wherever you want!   Contrary to popular belief, you do not need boiling water to cook most food. Starches, cellulose cook in 65 to 85 degrees. This is why these can be cooked in a thermos.   Tips: The goal is to retain as much heat inside the thermos as possible. This can be done by the following. 1. Preheat thermos by filling up thermos flask with boiling water. Let stand for 5 minutes. Drain water and fill to top with boiling water. 2. Avoid frequent opening.  You can get thermos refilled with boiling water at most hotels / tea stalls. Use a wide mouthed Thermos so that you can add / remove foods easily.

10 Pickle Varieties

Pickling Basics Pickling was invented thousands of years back to preserve food. Almost anything can be pickled but the western world has stopped with cucumbers / gherkins. In Asia, almost everything is indeed pickled. Some pickles can stay fresh for years, getting better with age, whereas others need to be consumed fast. If you have a fridge and consume your pickles in less than a week, you can forget all pickling safety rules. Irrespective of what you do, the refrigeration would prevent food spoilage. To understand how pickles can stay fresh for years without refrigeration, we need to understand what causes food to spoil. Causes of food spoilage: Externally, food is attacked by a variety of microorganisms. Internally, it is attacked by its own enzymes. The goal of all pickling is to inhibit these two actions. Minimizing spoilage: Internal spoilage is controlled by salting, sun drying or cooking. These minimize enzyme action. The microbial action is minimized by immersing foodstuffs in an acidic solution or a liquid like honey / sugar syrup / oil which seals food completely. Fermentation is another technique used where ‘good’ micro organisms are allowed to act on the food. This is similar to cheese / wine making. Various combinations of these techniques are used to create an amazing array of pickles. Blanching veggies Bring two cups (400 ml) of water to a boil. Add four pinches of salt and a handful of chopped vegetables. Let cook for 3 minutes. Drain water and wash vegetables under cold water to stop cooking.

This cookbook lists 10 different types of pickles listed below :

1.:  Salted Pickles  

2.:  Vinegar Pickles 

3.:  Honeyed Pickles

4.:  Soy Sauce Pickles

5.:  Lemon Juice Pickles 

6.:  Instant Indian Pickles   

7.:  Sweet Pickles   

8.:. Sun Cooked Pickles  

9.:   Pressed Pickles

10.: Fermented Pickles

10 Curries from the British Raj

British Raj Cuisine A fusion of Indian spices & cooking techniques with western ingredients (vinegar, beef, ham, smoked kippers etc) created this cuisine, so loved by the British.

The base:

Onion paste, yogurt, coconut milk, pureed greens and lentils form the base of most Raj curries.  

Raj Curry Paste

 Take eight pinches of coriander power, a pinch of cumin powder, two pinches each of turmeric powder, chili powder, pepper powder, mustard powder, a spoon of ginger garlic paste,  four pinches each of salt, sugar and roasted chana dal flour. Mix in enough vinegar to make a thick paste. Heat four spoons of mustard oil. Add paste, stir and fry for 5 minutes. Let cool and bottle.

Tips :

1. No veggies are normally added to meat curries.

2. Coriander / cumin are not used in mild / creamy curries

3. Ginger not used in sea food curries.

4. Mustard oil / Ghee is the preferred fat.

Simple Egg Salads 1001

Egg Salads – A Primer:  A mix of eggs with fresh veggies make protein packed, filling salads. Eggs cooked in numerous ways can go into the salad. With a few simple rules, you can easily create delicious salads.

1. Choose fresh fruits/leaves/ veggies / sprouts.

2. Shake off excess water after washing fruits / veggies

3. Mix in the dressing just before serving to avoid salads becoming soggy.

4. Cut fruit / veggies/ meats into uniform, bite sized pieces.

6. Always tear leaves, as cutting them would cause them to wilt.

  7.  Hollowed out fruit / vegetable halves / bowl shaped cabbage leaves  make great       salad serving bowls .Small cabbage leaves / grape leaves make cute spoons.

All these salads make great sandwich fillings too !  For low calorie salads, choose dressings like lemon juice / yogurt / vinegar and replace the nuts with croutons as a garnish.

 

Try replacing eggs with other protein sources like a handful of baked beans / cooked chicken / canned tuna, cooked ham, cooked lobster / crab / prawns for a range of exciting salads.

 

Full meal Salads:
When you add the following to any of the salads above, the salad becomes a complete meal.

1. Half a handful of cheese (paneer, feta etc) : Cheese &       Egg Salad.

2. Half a handful of cooked rice or half a handful of     cracked wheat (Bulgur wheat) soaked in boiling water     for 10 minutes. : Grain & Egg  Salad.

3. A handful of cooked couscous / pasta   : Pasta/     Couscous  & Egg Salad.

4. Half a handful of chopped and boiled potato: Potato &     Egg  Salad.

5. Half a handful of chopped bread: Bread& Egg Salad.

Soy sauce, oils, vinegar have been used as dressings for thousands of years. Creamy emulsions like vinaigrette & Mayonnaise are some of the most popular dressings.

Quick and Simple Tamil Cooking

To dispel the myth that traditional Tamil cooking is elaborate, time consuming and takes years to learn, Ananda Vikatan  , the leading Tamil weekly had asked me to come up with a series of recipes which can be learnt and cooked very fast. I decided to go a step further and got a friend of mine, Nathalie Van Der Berg, a Dutch girl on her first visit to India, to cook up these recipes. She has not cooked before and has never seen / heard of  these dishes. So, with just a 10 minute instruction and armed with this One page cookbook, she started cooking. The reporters loved it. And all of us later ate what got cooked - it is indeed very hard to go wrong with Tamil cuisine, if you understand the basics straight.

This one page cookbook showcases the recipes which were cooked. Check out the next issue of Ananda Vikatan for the full story.

In fact, Hussein, the photograher, who has never cooked before vowed to start rightaway ! The flipside was that they found the idea of a foreign girl cooking traditional Tamil dishes so fascinating, that I guess I'll be completely sidelined in this article as they shot thrice as many pictures of her as they did of me :)