Mutaikose thovaram

Muttaikose Thovaram - Mildly spiced Cabbage with coconut , a great accompaniment with rice.

As a child, I really hated cabbage. I did not like the bland taste of Cabbage.. But today I often cook cabbage. This recipe was adapted from my MIL, the usual way of cooking in my native, Nagercoil. It did surprise my city friends too, just like how it surprised me.. Its a try worthy recipe.

This goes well with Sambhar rice or any south Indian gravy with rice.

Ingredients:

Cabbage - 2 cups, cut into thin strips
Fresh Coconut - 3 or 4 tbs
Jeera - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 2 nos
Moong Dhal - 1 Tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Salt to taste

Oil - to saute

Method:

To Grind:

In a small Mixer, grind together coconut, green chillies and Jeera. Do not add water while grinding and grind only until a coarse mixture is formed

To Proceed:

• Pressure cook the cabbage with 1/4 cups water for one whistle. (Instead, we can cook it on stove top also, but it will be more time consuming)
• In a kadai, saute moong dhal and mustard in oil until they splutter and add curry leaves, once it becomes crisp
• Now add the cooked cabbage from the cooker and cook until the water gets reduced. 
• Add the ground coconut mixture and fry a little until the raw smell goes.
• Serve hot.

Note:

Even after the food gets cold, its tasty, so its a perfect lunch box recipe.

You can Substitute cabbage with any vegetable like carrot, beans, broad beans etc..

Enjoy and do let me know how it worked for you!!!

Nei Appam

Nei Appam

Nei Appam - Aromatic sweet delicacy while cooking. The bowl has the finished Nei Appams.

Appam has always been an all time family favorite. As kids, we used to love these soft, round sweet balls to relish as an evening snack.  After wedding, I was more than glad to discover that my hubby was also fond of them. Bonus, my MIL was an expert in making these Nei appams! (though my mom made them, I never attempted to try them out before marriage)

Whoa! so the first time I tried it out was in my hubby's ancestral house in my native, Parakkai. Thanks to my MIL for sharing this recipe, which has never failed me so far. Now my one year old loves to eat them too :)

Ingredients:

Raw rice            - 1 cup

Jaggery             - 1 cup

Yelakai             - 3 or 4 pods

Ripe Banana         - 1

Sukku               - a pinch

Method:

• Soak raw rice in water for an hour
• In a mixer, add soaked rice, Jaggery, Yelakai, Sukku and ripe banana and grind to a smooth batter.(consistency would be that of dosa batter)
• Let the batter stand for an hour or so
• Add ghee in Paniyara kulzhi and once its hot, add the batter in the ghee (do not add batter to fill the kulzhi as the Appams will raise when it gets cooked)
• Serve hot

Note:

• If you dont have paniyara kulzhi, you can make small droppings in hot oil, heated in a kadai. The taste and shape will differ slightly, but it still will taste great
• If the batter gets watery, add a little rice flour to get the consistency. Too much watery batter will absorb more ghee and spoil the taste
• Taste the batter before you cook to check out the sweetness
• The Nei Appam, if stored in an air tight container will stay fresh for about a week. It can be stored at room temperature itself.