Solai's True Chettinad kitchen

          Almost all households in South India (I am not sure about the other parts) would have resorted to this item though they like it or not and whether they are good in preparing it or not.This is mainly because of the less cooking time that it takes and can easily become a complete meal. We have seen in many functions if they run out of food due to excess crowd the cooks will make this uppuma and serve fast.Rava is not easily digestible and so cant become a regular tiffin.Many I come to know find it difficult to make it perfect.I too was not able to reach the best combination of oil,water etc for many years. This is a food item best suited for bachelors. Youngsters will not have digestion problem and they can resort to it as an instant food.Many people I know love this uppuma .In some places they call this rava Bombay  Rava.

                                                                                 I am crazy about this uppuma and will ask for it in all hotels. My children are not big fans of this and I rarely prepare this at home .This is a very tasty recipe and if followed exactly will give a nice uppuma.This uppuma can be made without vegetables also.If you add vegetables you can make the item more healthy. Those who are having frozen mixed vegetables can easily add a handful.The main thing to be kept in mind while making any uppuma is that you should not be very cautious about  the quantity of oil used. If you are so then the uppuma will turn very bad like kali.

Ingredients

Roasted Rava -1 cup (Now all the brands of Rava we get are roasted) 

Onion -1

Green chili-4

Curry leaf-little

chopped ginger- 1 teaspoon

Coriander leaf -little

Cooking oil -4 table spoons (If mixed with ghee will be very tasty)

Vegetables

cut beans-3 table spoons

carrot sliced- 3 to 4 table spoons

peas -little

(If fresh vegetables are used microwave it for 4 minutes or cook separately for 10 minutes.)

To Season

Mustard seed-1 teaspoon

Broken urudh dhal-1 teaspoon

Kadalai Paruppu- 2 teaspoons

Broken cashews -1 table spoon  (optional)

curry leaf-little

Procedure

                              Place a reasonably big kadai in the stove.Add 3 table spoons of cooking oil.If you like you can mix a tablespoon of ghee.Season the uppuma with the items given in to season.First add kadalai paruppu when its color changes add mustard seed then urudh dhal and then curry leaf.Now add the chopped onions and slit chilies. Add the cooked vegetables also if vegetables are used.1:3 is the ratio of water to rava. So add three cups of water and the salt needed now.Close the kadai so that the water boils fast.once the water boils add the rava equally in all sides of the kadai(In Tamil we call it thoovurathu).Sir nicely till it becomes semi solid.Now reduce the fire. Add 1 table spoon more of ghee or oil to the corners of the uppuma in the kadai and continuously stir from top to bottom even though it gets the correct consistency for 5 to 7 minutes in medium or slow fire.Rava needs this cooking time.If you switch off once it gets thick then the rava will be left uncooked.The uppuma will not catch to the bottom if oil is exact.After 8 minutes switch off the stove and add the coriander leaves if you have and serve.

I am back to blogging after the short break as we are somewhat to a schedule.Still grinding idly batter on a regular basis is difficult. As I regularly have idly batter,I never make any uppuma. But now a days atleast twice in a week we have to make this. I never make bombay rava (white) uppuma (kitchadi) though I love to have it as it is difficult to digest. So the only option was wheat rava and to my surprise,I found that everybody loved it.My daughter wanted me to blog the recipe so that she can make it after I leave. This recipe will be very useful for the bachelors who cannot have idly batter all the time. Those who want to avoid rice and want to have wheat can also go for this. This is an excellent food for diabetic patients.

I Used this brand of Wheat Rava.I think that all other brands will be equally good.

Thalicha Idiyappam
Mix 2 tablespoons of buttermilk or curd along with salt in 2 to 3 cups of water. Put all the steamed idiyappams in this water and immediately take it out squeezing all the water out. This is to add salt and sour taste to the idiyappam.
Ingredients
Oil-2 tablespoons
Small or big onion finely chopped -1 cup
Curry leaf -1 table spoon
Green chillies-2
Red chillies-2
Mustard seed-1 teaspoon
Urudh dhal 1 teaspoon
Keep the kadai in the stove. Pour the oil when it gets heated add the mustard seed, urudh dhal and curry leafs. When the mustard seed cracks add the onion and stir well add a pinch of salt. When the onion gets roasted add the Idiyappam into the kadai little by little and mix well .Don’t stir the Idiyappam too much. Otherwise it will break into very small pieces. Kosamalli is the side dish that we usually make for Idiyappam which I will come to later. But this will go very well with vegetable kuruma or mutton or chicken curry.

This is one among the special items served during chettiar marriage feasts. This is usually served along with coconut milk. But it tastes yummy with stew, chicken curry, mutton curry etc.

Ingredients
Raw rice-2 cups
Boiled rice -3/4 cup
Grated coconut-3/4 cup

Procedure for grinding

Soak both the rice for 2 hours. After soaking grind it in the mixie or grinder. Do not add too much water while grinding. If you are using fresh coconut then that coconuts water can be used for grinding. Add the grated coconut after 5 minutes of grinding. This itself will make the dough little loose. Grind it to a fine paste. After taking out the dough from the grinder or mixie wash it with 1 cup of good water and keep aside.

Procedure for making Kanji
Take 3 spoons of grinded dough and mix it in the water kept aside. Add 2 more cups of water into it. Now keep this mixture in the stove and go on stirring it. It will start to become thick. When it becomes little thicker (consistency of corn flour added soups) remove it from stove. Allow the Kanji to cool.

Add little salt and the kanji to the dough and mix well. Make it to the consistency of idly batter. Allow the batter to ferment for 6 hours. After fermenting, if little thick, coconut milk can be added or water can also be added to bring it to the correct consistency. It should be in the consistency of dosa batter.

In medium fire make appams.It can be made with ease in non stick appa tawa.If it is going to be served along with coconut milk soak them in the coconut milk a few minutes before serving.