Coconut chutney

(~1 cup)Equal amount of grated coconut & pottu kadalai ( split roasted channa dal), (6)1green chilli/person, 2-3 garlic cloves, little tamarind, water, salt. Grind. Garnish.

Basic South Indian garnishing

Pour some oil in a small vessel. Add mustard seeds. Keep flame at low. After it starts to splatter, add a spoonful of urad dai or channa dal or both. When dal starts to brown, add a few curry leaves and broken red chillies. Before you start to cough, remove from fire and pour it on your chutney/dal. It will sizzle and release the flavor.

Easy Poondu chutney

1 whole garlic
About 6 red chillies ( Actually when you eye it, garlic and chillies are about equal in volume. Varies with variety and your taste too.)
Salt
Sesame oil
No water!

Grind all of them together. You will have to add a lot of oil and salt to combat the spicyness of chillies and garlic. But I am sure it is healthful.

Garnish!

South Indian Ghee

I put Moringa leaves (don't have to strip the leaves) in butter and simmer it in low heat for more than 30 minutes. You will know it is ready when the smell pulls you near it. More the leaves, the better. At first there are lot of small bubbles like froth. When ready, leaves would have become crispy and the scum from the butter settles down as brown residue. The ghee itself is clear like water. Put it off and let it cool before you filter it. The scum and leaves can be eaten with rice. The ghee can stay outside. Take care not to burn the ghee too much.

PS: In US, Asian stores may have it as Horseradish leaves in the freezer.

Oil

We use Gingelly (also called till or sesame) oil and Virgin (unrefined) Olive oil. These have been traditionally used in cooking. Refined oil lacks in nutrients and is less flavorful.

No Canola (genetically modified) or soybean oil (Most genetically modified).

Sugar

We use brown sugar strictly. No. Not what you are thinking. This is unrefined or minimally refined sugar. Chemicals have to be used to bleach the sugar sparkling white. This also leaches out all nutrients. Brown sugar is tasty and makes everything taste better.

Salt

I buy pure sea salt without fortification (iodine) or anti-caking agents (aluminium silicate, calcium silicate, etc.). In India it should be harder without good labeling laws.

One should get all nutrients from wholesome food and not from "fortification".

Aluminium can deposit in the brain. As for any added chemical in the food, I don't need EPA or research to tell me if it is safe to use. I use my common sense, because I won't live long enough for them to find something is bad.

I use salt in my cooking. I only try to restrict salted snacks and pickles.

Cooking utensils

No teflon in our apartment brought in by me. I believe you are not only harming yourself ( which should be okay if you are an informed user), but workers in the factory, their families and also whoever drinks or eats teflon tainted food.

Calculate:

If you buy teflon vessels, you have to throw them when they get scratched. That means you have to keep buying them.

Instead, if you buy good quality stainless steel vessels with steel/wood handle, they will last you a lifetime.

I don't have any sticking problem with my vessels. All I do is soak them for sometime and scrape with a gentle sponge. If there is anything sticking, rub with some sea salt and it shines like new. I also use wooden spoons for my new vessels to prevent scratching.

I don't use aluminium too.

No electric rice cooker for us. Most of them have non-stick or aluminium container.

I find it very easy to cook rice in a pasta cooker (Just a vessel with a lid with a small hole). No stirring. I just open the lid after 5 minutes to see if it is cooked. No straining. No sticking to the vessel. Easy cleaning.

Storing food

After cooking,

Outside the fridge: 1 day
In the fridge: 1 week
In the freezer: 1 month

You might want to follow this especially for meat since it can have nasty bacteria which can multiply. Freezing only prolongs multiplication, doesn't necessarily stop or kill.
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Try not to store in plastic containers. If you will live for sometime in the same place, invest in non-toxic containers.

I still use plastic partially. But I store water in them for a few days, keep changing them to make sure I remove all the plasticides. Ever know the smell of plastic?

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Garlic and Onions, I store in separate baskets outside.
Spices, Tamarind stay out.
Some pickles and chutneys can stay out, but I put them in fridge

Spicy bits

Why bother grinding your own spice powder when you can buy them?

1. You can be sure it is not adulterated with various things including lead.

2. It smells and tastes better!

Scary Black Idlis

If alphabets start with 'A', my recipes start with 'IDLI'.

I have 3 years of experience trying it the wrong way. So who is better equipped to talk about idlis?

I keep testing one hypothesis all along, which is

Healthy food can taste good!

Or rather, I shall disprove the hypothesis,

Healthy food always tastes bad.

For whiners, I give my best recipe first before rambling.

Ingredients:
1 cup Black Urad Dal
4 cups Idli rice
Fenugreek
Salt
Water

Method:

1. Soak the urad dal in filtered water for 2-3 days, changing the water a couple of times, but before the last 8 hours. It will have sprouted a little.

2. On the second day, soak idli rice with ~ 2 spoons of fenugreek seeds. (More than 6 hours and before stinking time)

3. Grind rice first with as little water as possible. I grind it with a mixie. when you rub the dough between fingers, it is pasty with very tiny grits. If the grits are bigger, it will taste like cooked rice.

4. Grind urad dal to smooth consistency. All along, give your mixie rest in between.

5. Put them in a container at least twice larger.

6. Add salt.

7. Put your hand inside and stir it well. (Warning: Don't try if you have infectious diseases)

8. The batter should be thick enough to make swirls when you pour a spoonful. If you lift the dough with a spoon and drop it back and hear "slurp" "darrrrrrrrrrrr tut tut", you can stop dreaming of idlis.

9. Don't despair if you don't get it right, you can add lot of oil and make tasty dosas with them. However if you get it right, the batter would have nearly doubled.

10. Slightly grease the idli plates with oil. Add a spoonful of batter in all dips.

11. Pour little water in the vessel. Place your idli plates. Cover. Steam it at medium heat. Set your timer to 7 minutes. Open after 5 min. Scoop it out with a spoon after it dries a little.

12. Taste it before screaming, " I got iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit righhhhhhttttttttttt!"