Spring onions and egg curry / Ulli aaku, kodi guddu koora

 

Dear friends, I am back after a long break. Thanks to everyone who remembered me during my absence :).  I learned this egg curry  from my sister-in-law. In my home my mom never used spring onions. At those times we rarely get these leaves in market. But in my in-laws place they get lots of ulli aaku  (spring onions) from their farm. They use spring onions regularly in their cooking and it tastes awesome. Egg and spring onions make a very healthy and tasty combination.

Spring onions or scallions are appreciated for their medicinal properties. They contain a compound called quercitin which is proved to halt the growth of certain tumours. They are also rich in vitamin C. Quercitin and  vitamin C provide spring onions their anti-bacterial activity. It is an excellent food for people suffering with cold and flu. They are also rich in vitamin K, A and folate.

Ingredients :

Spring onions- 1 bunch

Egg- 2 nos

Ginger- 1/2 inch piece

Garlic- 2 pods

Green chilli- 3 nos

Jeera seeds- 1/2 tspn

Red chilli powder- 1/2 tspn

Turmeric- 1/4 tspn

Mustard and jeera seeds- 1/2 tspn for tempering

Oil- 3 tbspns

Salt to taste

Method :

Mince the spring onions. Grind the ginger, garlic into a smooth paste. Coarsely grind together green chilli, jeera and turmeric powder.  Heat oil in a pan. When the oil gets heated add mustard and jeera seeds. When they splutter add the  ground ginger, garlic paste and minced spring onions. Saute them well until the raw smell of ginger, garlic paste dispappears. Now add the coarsely ground green chilli, jeera, turmeric mixture. Saute well for few minutes. At this stage add salt and red chilli powder. Saute for a few seconds. Now break the egg and pour it on top of the spring onion mixture. Simmer flame and cover the pan. After few minutes open the pan and slowly  turn the egg upside down so that the top layer gets cooked. When the egg is done switch off the stove. A very tasty side-dish for chappathi will be ready to be served.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Use fresh spring onions. Ginger, garlic paste adds a lot of flavour to this dish Take care not to burn the ingredients. Happy cooking !!!

Rava dosai

A very simple dosa preparation. No need for soaking, grinding, mixing, fermenting etc. This is a slight variation of the usual rava dosai preparation. I have used eggs instead of maida. I learned this from one of my friend. They taste much better than the maida version. A healthy version too because we are substituting a simple carb with good quality protein. Try it for a wholesome breakfast.

Ingredients :

Rava- 1 cup

Rice flour- 1/2 cup

Egg- 1 no

Cashew kernels- 8 nos (broken into small pieces)

Ginger- a small piece (minced finely)

Curry leaves- 10 leaflets (minced finely)

Green chillies- 4 nos (minced finely)

Jeera seeds- 1/2 tspn

Salt to taste

Oil for frying (you can use ghee if you wish)

Method :

Mix all the items mentioned above except oil. Make a batter by diluting the mixture with water. The batter should be very thin. It must be several times thinner than dosa batter and if you take the batter in a laddle and pour it, it must fall freely like thick buttermilk. After preparing the batter wait for half-an-hour. Now heat a pan. When the pan is hot enough pour a laddle of batter. You normally get a net-like dosa as shown in picture. No need to spread it. Dribble oil  and fry both sides until it turns crispy and golden brown. Serve with coconut chutney.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : The most important thing is you need to have a good pan. Use a thick bottomed pan in which the heat spreads evenly and at the same time slowly. Simmer the flame. Do not keep on high flame. The above mentioned points will help in cooking the rava dosa evenly. They also remain intact and crispy. I have only a hot plate.  The pan I use becomes hot quickly and that too only in the center. I had hard time getting a properly shaped dosa. I think electric pan can do wonders, when preparing rava dosa.  Cashews and ginger impart a very nice taste to the dosa. Happy cooking !!!

Keeri muttai/ Boiled egg with fried onions

 

One of our favourite dish. Very simple, aromatic and very tasty too. My mom used to make it often. The most funniest part of this dish is its name. We call it as 'keeri' muttai. There is also a small mammal called keeri pilla (mongoose). Ofcourse this is hen's egg and not from mongoose !!! :). Since this egg is cut open I guess they called it this way. It tamil the meaning of ' keeri' is to scratch or to cut. Whatever it is the taste will definitely conquer you. It is a dry preparation but you can mix those golden, crispy onions with rice and eat. They taste yummy!!! You will be surprised how onions, green chillies, curry leaves and turmeic powder could do the magic.

Ingredients :

Egg- 2 nos

Onion- 3 big red onions or some 20 shallots or pearl onions (If you use the big variety use only red onions)

Green chillies- 5 nos (adjust according to your taste)

Mustard seeds, jeera seeds and urid dhal- 1/2 tspn

Curry leaves- 20 leaflets

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tspn

Oil- 4 tbspns

Method :

Very simple. Cut onions into thin slices. Slit green chillies lengthwise and cut into two. Boil egg and cut them into two pieces as shown in picture. Now heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough add urid dhal. When it browns add mustard and jeera seeds. When they splutter add the onions, green chillies, curry leaves and turmeric powder.  Add enough salt too at this stage and saute the mixture by keeping the fire on sim. Saute until the onions turn golden brown. Add the egg at this stage and allow them to brown a bit on both sides. A very delicous, simple dish will be ready to be savoured. Just mix the onions with hot rice and enjoy with the egg pieces.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Make it simple. Do not add any additional ingredients. Onions, green chillies and turmeric are must ingredients. Make thin slices of onions so that they get the required consistency quicker. Use red onions or shallots. Use of lots of onion makes this dish tastier. Use only green chillies and not chilli powder. Take care not to burn the egg pieces. When cooking always stand near the pan and stir the ingredients frequently otherwise the bottom layer get charred quickly. Happy cooking  friends !!! and have a beautiful week end.