Rasam - South Indian recipe

Ingredients

Shallots - 10
Garlic - 8
Ginger - small piece
Tamarind - 50 grams
Tomato -1
Green chilly - 3
Red  chilly powder  - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander  powder - 1 tablespoon
Pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt
Oil
Water -1 cup
Curry leaves
Coriander  leaves
Mustard seeds
Rasam powder (optional )

First mash shallots, ginger and garlic. Keep it aside. Meanwhile soak tamarind in water. Heat a pan. Add oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves and coriander leaves. Add mashed shallots,  ginger and garlic to this.  Saute it until  it turns brown colour. Now add tomatoes, green chilly and tamarind extract . After this add all the masala powder. Saute it for a minute. Finally add one cup of water. Cover it with a lid and let it cook for two minutes. Serve hot Rasam with boiled or steamed rice. 

Moru Kachiyathu (Yellow Cucumber - Curd Curry)

Ingredients

Grated coconut - 3/4 cup
Yellow Cucumber - 1/2 (medium)
Turmeric powder  - 1/2 teaspoon
Shallots -3

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 teaspoon 

Green chilly - 3
Red dry chilly -2
Salt
Oil
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds
Curd - 1/2 cup

In a pan, add some water, and cook finely cut cucumber for 5 - 10 minutes. Now In a mixer, grind coconut along with turmeric, green chilly, shallots and cumin seeds to fine paste. In a pan, add little oil. Once it is hot, add mustard seeds, dry chilly, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. After this add coconut paste to half cooked cucumber and cook it for 1-2 minutes by adding little salt. Add water if you want gravy. It will be good if you add very little water while grinding. Finally add curd and turn off the flame after 30 - 40 seconds. Because we don't want to cook it for long after adding curd. So now you got a yummy curd curry to have with boiled or steamed rice.

Vendakka Fry (ladies finger / Okra / Bhindi ) Fry

Ingredients

Okra - 15-20
Shallots  - 6
Turmeric powder  - 1 teaspoon
Oil
Salt
Mustard seeds -1 teaspoon
Curry leaves

First cut okra into small pieces as in the pic. Heat a pan, add oil in it. Add mustard seeds once oil is hot. Now add curry leaves and mashed shallots. Saute it until it turns golden brown color. Finally add finely cut okra and little salt and turmeric to it. Saute it for two minutes.  Cover it with a lid and cook it in medium to low flame for five to six minutes. It will be tasty if it turns the color to dark brown.

Okra is a famous health food because of its calcium and potassium content. And is very rich in fibre and vitamins. As always am publishing all easy and healthy recipes for my friends in this  summer. I know no one likes to spend lot of time in the kitchen especially in sumer.  You should be in fact packing your bags and travelling to some hill side. Enjoy your summer holidays by trying all this easy recipes.

Cheera Thoran (Spinach stir fry)

Ingredients

Spinach - 250 grams approx
Grated Coconut - 1/2  cup
Turmeric powder  - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Salt
Oil

In a pan add little oil. Once it is hot, add mustard seeds. Later add finely chopped  spinach and saute it for a minute. Add turmeric powder, salt and grated coconut. Again saute it for a minute. Cover it with a lid. Let it cook for 4- 5 minutes in medium to low flame. It's a very healthy recipe. You can try the same recipe for red spinach. It got lot of health benefits as it is very good for hair growth and good for curing aneamia because of its iron content.

Kovakka curry (Ivy gourd)

Ingredients

Kovakka - 15
Grated coconut - 3/4 cup
Turmeric  powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon

Mustard  seeds - 1/2 teaspoon 

Oil
Salt
Coriander  leaves
Curry leaves

Cut Ivy gourd in thin slices. Keep it aside. In a pan, add little oil, once it is hot, add grated coconut and all the Masala. Saute it until coconut becomes golden brown color. Switch off the flame and let it cool for some time. Meanwhile in another pan, add little oil. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves and finally add add ivy gourd slices to this. Saute it for three to four minutes. 

Now in a mixer, grind the coconut mixture to fine paste. Add this to the ivy  gourd and add little water for gravy. Let it cook for two to three minutes. Finally add little coriander leaves and salt. It goes well with rice. Very simple and easy to make recipe. I tried it when I was so lazy to cook. And you know what it came out well. :)

Banana Avil milk shake

Ingredients

Avil (Flattened rice) -1 cup
Banana - 2
Milk - 3 cup
Sugar - 1 cup

Soak Avil in very little water for half an hour to one hour. Later mix Avil with sugar and milk. Blend it well. Now peel banana and chop it. Finally add chopped banana to the above mixture and blend again until it becomes smooth. 

It's a rich healthy recipe because of its potassium,  calcium and magnesium content. And banana is famous for minerals, vitamins and fibre. And this drink is good for tiredness and anaemia. I would suggest everyone to try it especially in this summer season.

Fresh Watermelon Juice

Ingredients

Watermelon -1/2 (medium)
Sugar- 1 cup

Remove seeds from watermelon. Cut ino small pieces. Add sugar and use blender to blend it well. Here the only task is to remove the seeds and you need little  patience for this. :)

Also, please note that we are not adding any water here. It's so refreshing to have this juice in the summer. Also, it is the right season for watermelon and will be available plenty in the market. Add sugar as per your taste buds and enjoy! :)

Fruit Juice - Mango

Ingredients

Mango-3
Sugar - 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 litre (Frozen)

First peel the mangoes and cut into medium pieces. In a separate vessel, crush the frozen milk bars. Mix all this in a mixer jug along with sugar. Use a blender or a mixer to blend it until it becomes smooth.

Mango milk shake is ready. Its easy to make and anyone can make infact. It helps to beat the summer heat. Variety of mangoes are available in the summer season and i would suggest everyone to try it. Please go through the pics. I recommend this for boys and men out there as this doesn't require much time and an easy way to your loved ones heart :)