Tips, Local Adaptations etc

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Topic started by ravi SUNdaram on Tue Aug 17 09:15:35 .


When you practice south indian cuisine in a foreign land, we adpat and try to find creative substituitions and try to fit new vegetables and products into indian/tamil cooking. some are fairly obvious. One look at zuchchini and you know it is a vegetable destined to be a koottu. Some are not. Let us try to collect such innovations in this thread

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(Baturaa from frozen biscuit dough)

In US you get frozen dough in cylinders for making "biscuits". Pilsbury Grands is an example. The biscuit they talk about is shaped like a round bun and is flaky and they serve it in breakfast. You can take this biscuit dough, and roll it using a chappaththi pin like a thick puri and deep fry it in oil. It is very close to batura. It does not puff up into one large pillow, but it has numerous microspcopic air pockets like bread. This would be a home-made batura (not restaraunt made batura)

The original batura is made from a batter of maidaa, that is allowed to ferment. The biscuit dough is exactly that. Raised all purpose flour.

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Seedless cucumber cooks like pudalangaay

We stumbled on to this just yesterday. A friend gave us a load of seedless cucumbers (I think they are known as kakkadi kaay in India). Since they appeared long and thin my wife said, 'hey let us try making a "pachchai vadhakkal" a la pudalangaay style'. It turned out great. Just cut this cucumber into thin rings and follow snakegourd recipe.

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Broccoli makes great paruppu usily

Running out of ideas for paruppu usily (aka aRaichu kiLar or paruppu aRaichcha kaRi)? Try broccoli! frozen florets are fine. My mom would do it with cabbage too, dont know if that is common.

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broccoli for paruppu usily?? interesting!!

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Mr ravi sundaram,

CAn you add some recipes for broccoli??

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Pastry sheet for vegetable puff.

Make the stuffing like for masala dosai,
Get Pastry sheet from refregirated section for the grocery store. Pepperidge Farm brand is popular in U.S. Cut squares off, spoon a little stuffing, and fold into triangle. Bake. Comes out really well.

It might be already well known, but I am adding it here anyway. someday this page should become the
"newcomers guide to south indian cooking in U.S" :-)

Sarala: Will come back with more info on George Bush's favourite vegetable :-)

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Baclava is easy to make!

Yes, you get philo sheet from the grocery store. (philo and pastry sheets are different. Philo sheets are very thin. ) Rest of the
recipe is essentially pouring Apricot nectar slowly onto a stack of philo sheets and layers of chopped nuts, saturating it.

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Use frozen hashbrowns for quick potato curry

(another well known shortcut).
OreIda brand frozen potato hashbrowns (try potato + greenpepper + onion too) are essentially frozen diced potato. Start the microwave to thaw it and start oil in the vaanali. Throw in kaduku,
u.paruppu, and k.paruppu and perunggaayam. by the time
kaduku "explodes" :-) the microwave would have beeped. Xfet to vaanali, reduce heat add salt and red chilli powder (or sambar powder) cook for a while and you have the urgent potato curry.

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Broccoli in south indian cooking

Pure South indian dishes using broccoli are paruppu usily, koottu and kari. The kari is done using a lot of kadugu and a few dried red chillies for kaaram. no powders. koottu is the standard one using coconut, cumin, blackpeppercorn ground up.

I use the mixed frozen vegetables that has broccoli in them in fried rice, pulav, noodles etc.
Thinking about it, chopped broccoli can be added to adai as a topping. Should try it someday. For adai I have used coconut, onions, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, finely chopped zuchchini, finely chopped eggplant as toppings before. Cauliflower bajji is very common. so broccoli bajji too does not sound unreasonable.

Keep a 10oz frozen packet in the freezer. That way when you make adai or bajji someday you can try one two test runs.

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Chinese rice sticks == sEvai == idiaappam

The rice sticks sold in chinese stores, cooked
according to packet directions is exactly sEvai.

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for S E Asians

Sevai is nothing but Beehun. Rice noodles.

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Hi,

Regarding local adaptations, you can try Bhatura with frozen bread dough. Thaw it and use it like puri mavu; and make like big puris and fry. Try it and let me know how it turns out. It comes out very good.

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Ravisundaram,
what are the chinese rice sticks referred as in the chinese stores? Do they have a name or just rice sticks? And are u saying that if i get these rice sticks and steam 'em they turn out as idiapams?
Hamsa ramakrishanan,
Can u use the pillsbury biscuit dough for pooris?

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Ravi Sundaram:

Interesting ideas and a good thread.

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hi, i have never tried pillsbury biscuit dough poori. I think if we try anything available here without any hesitation in small quantities it may actually work out well. Just keep on imagining!

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Great forum! Try store bought tortillas(cut and deep fried) as papdis for chaat, bhel etc.

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Frozen Spring roll pastry wrap for Irani-style samosas. Cut out long strip, place stuffing in a corner and and fold over and over to the end.

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Washing off the sugar syrup in store bought haldiram rasgollas makes a very good base for rasmalai. just boil milk add sugar, cardamom and kesar.. and add the washed rasgollas and boil for 5 minutes for tasty rasmalai.

asparagaus curry like beans poriyal is good too.

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Pre cooked Pure rice sticks or sevai is marketed by PTR Foods Private Limited, Chennai, India.
This is precooked rice sevai is 100% vegetarian.
Just add boiling water and it is ready in just three minutes. Add salt or sugar or season it with your favourites, or make any dish out of it.
We can send some receipe if required.
If any one really wants to buy, please mail.

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hi
this is a great idea....interesting !!
try a lentil soup can for quick dhal fry or parrupu sambar.

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I use the Chinese rice noodles available at the local Asian (Chinese,Thai,Viet) grocers in N Cal for making sevai too. You may buy any brand Rice Nodles (check the ingredients to make sure it is 100% rice based). Boil in water until soft. Drain and make your favorite Sevai! I usually buy Taiwanese made rice noodles as according to a friend from those parts, they maintain high standards of hiegiene in manufacturing and packing those noodles.
Another tip: when fresh coconut is not available, just soak some store bought dry coconut flakes in warm water for 10 mins, and you can create the same recipes out of it as you would using fresh coconut.
Use Ragu or any other tomato based pasta sauce with garlic as a base for north indian curries. You don't have to chop and puree and fry tomatoes and garlic!
you can buy Amaranth greens from any Asian market. It is the same as on of the S Indian keerais.
more later

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cool

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Mr.Ravi Sundaram,
I want to know the recipe for Chalupa(Taco Bell)bread .What flour is used for it.I think Taco foods are healthy.What is ur opinion about this?
Thanks
Devi

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i wouldnt call taco bell healthy... they are trying to introduce some healthy dishes lately like salads, etc due to the recent health food trend... most of their food is deep fried. esp the chalupa (tastiest and unhealthiest dish). sorry to disappoint u....

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try this healthy yogurt salad dressing

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1 tablespoon minced coriander leaves
1 tablespoon minced green onions
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/2 tst chaat masala
salt to taste

In a small bowl, combine all the above ingredients and beat till smooth. Toss in your favorite salad.

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hello,

Can someone please suggest an "indian style" cooking oil?

Thanks

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Hello,

Bertolli's extra light olive oil is a good substitute to our oil.Apart from that Wesson's vegetable oil is also ok.

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Hey Can nyone tell the English word for "Kaduku" .... :-)
Please mail me the word to this ID

whyprasad@gmail.com

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mustrad
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