Oatmeal Cookie

I switched to Oatmeal breakfast sometime back. When you have a metabolism that is not so kind on your weight when you satisfy your tongue on Cakes, muffins, bread-butter.....what option do you have!!!

I get a Quaker Oats assorted instant Oats box. Which comes with pockets of instant oats of different flavors. It also has 6 pockets of original Oats, that is without any added flavors. How much ever I push myself to eat Oats, I just can't take the original one.

So, those pockets kept piling up. I searched on some cookie recipes & found this Vegan one.

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/desertrecipes/r/oatcrancookies.htm

However I changed it to a complete non Vegan & made slight modifications. It was a great success, my hubby & my in-laws enjoyed it very much.

Ingredients:

Quaker Instant Oats Original - 3 pockets (3 cups oridinary oats can also be used),

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Baking powder - 1/2 tspoon (original recipe calls for baking soda, as I did not have I used this)

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Brown Sugar - 3/4 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Butter - 200 grams (I melted in Microwave for 30 seconds)

Salt - 1/2 tspoon

Spice Powder - 1/2 tspoon (I dry roasted Cinnamon 1 stick, Nutmeg - 1/2, Cloves - 2, Cardamom -1. Powdered them)

Raisin - 3 spoons (optional)

Chopped Walnut - 2 spoons (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven with 375 degrees.

Mix sugar, brown sugar, butter & milk. Add flour, spices, salt, baking powder and mix them, dissolving any lumps. Finally add Oats, raisin & walnuts.

Take a spoonful & place them in the cookie sheet with adequate space.

Bake them for 15 minutes. Take them out, let it cool for 15 minutes & enjoy them.

Paruppu Usili - Dhal Crumble

Parrupu Usili (Dhal Crumble) has always been one of our favorite dishes. So far I was using only Toor Dhal to make it, recently my MIL has got a tip from one of her friends & asked me to use Chenna Dhal too. It came out very tasty & extra crunchy because of the Chenna Dhal.

Ingredients:

Toor Dhal (Lentil) - 1 cup

Chenna Dhal - 2 cups

Dried Red Chilli - 3-4 numbers

Beans or Indian Beans (Avarekai) - 3 cups (washed & cut)

Oil - 5 spoons

For Garnishing:

Urud Dhal - 1 spoon

Mustard Seeds

Curry Leaves

Asafoetida - a pinch

Method:

Soak Toor, Chenna Dhal & Red Chillies in water at least for half an hour. Grind them coarsely.

Stream in the cooker with adequate salt.

In parallel, boil the beans/Indian beans with sufficient salt for the beans. Drain the excess water(You can collect the water to make soup) & keep it aside.

Once the cooked Dhal mixture is cooled, crumble them using a fork or spoon.

In a pan put oil, mustard seeds, urud dhal, curry leaves. Add Asafoetida. Put the Dhal crumble & fry them until it is slightly roasted.

Now add the drained beans & cook it for 5 more minutes.

Delicious Paruppu Usili is ready to be tasted with Rice, Rasam / Moor Kulambu.

Vazhakaai Thuruvina Curry - Plantain Curry

This is a favorite curry in my husband's family.

My mother-in-law makes it quite nicer.

She used to remember that whenever she takes this dish to work, her

colleagues used to assume it was coconut rice.

If you have the right Plantain, that's how the curry looks.

Ingredients:

Plantain - Medium size 2

Coconut shreds or powder - For garnishing

Green Chili, Urud Dhal, Chenna Dhal, Mustard Seeds, curry leaves - For garnishing

Oil - 1 or 2 spoons

Method:

Cut the extra stem in Plantain, do not peel the skin. In a deep container, fill water put the Plantains; they should completely

immerse in the water. Bring to boil. Once the skin facing down in the container turns dark, turn Plantains to the other

side, switch off once the other side also turns dark.

Take out & let them cool.

Cut green chilies in to desired size, have the ingredients for garnishing ready.

Once Plantains are cooled, you can take off the skins easily like in Banana. Shred them using a shredder.

Once you shred them you need to immediately start the cooking part. If you keep them for long, they tend to become

darker & the tastes too get spoiled.

Heat oil in a pan, put mustard seeds, Urud dhal, Chenna dhal, chilis & curry leaves. Once the dhals

turn to golden color, put the shredded Plantain.

Fry for 2-3 minutes, add coconut shreds & salt according to your taste.

Fry for couple of more minutes & turn off. Serve it with Hot Rasam/Sambar and Rice.

My Mother-in-law does not fry the Plantain shreds, once the seasoning is done, she switches off & puts the

Plantain Shreds. However, that will be nice only with farm fresh Plantain, available in Tamil Nadu.

Appa's Herbal Rasam

Appa's Mooligai (For Herbal in Tamil) Rasam - My father's famous recipe. My father's encounter in the kitchen was limited to the rare occasions when no ladies available to prepare the food. He used to make Okra (Ladies finger) curry & this Herbal Rasam. Once I was big enough to have encounters with kitchen...there were countless experiments I made on my father & brother. Whatever crap I made they both used to say it was lovely, I would anyway come to know the truth, when I start eating (note the point, I'm never the one to eat first).

Coming back to Rasam, both my brother & I liked it very much, we would demand him to make it once in a while. My hubby also joined the club after tasting this Rasam.

My father kept this recipe a great secret, until I came to US. He gave me this recipe only after using the Magic words that his dear son-in-law is asking for it. Now that I have got it, I want to let the entire world know about his "Secret Recipe". Actually, I have got his permission (don't want to get into copyright issues later :-))

Here is the most simple & yummy recipe.

Ingredients:

Tomato - one small size or half of medium size

Asafoetida - a pinch

Green Chili - 1, cut into half lengthwise

Curry leaves

Coriander leaves

Garlic - 4 to 5 pods, crushed

Salt - per taste

Cumin & pepper powder - 1.5 tea spoons (dry roast cumin & pepper equal amount & powder)

Ghee - 1/2 spoon

Mustard seed

Method:

Bring 4 cups water to boil. Put all the ingredients except for ghee, mustard seeds & coriander leaves in to it.

Switch off once tomato & garlic are completely cooked and the raw smell is gone. Put the coriander leaves, close

with a lid. Heat up ghee in a pan, put mustard seeds, once it starts to sprout pour it in the rasam

keep the lid closed until it's time to serve.

Mix it with rice or just drink like soup as I do.