Bring Food Education

My straight away quote on “Bring Food Education” may make you understand that the food education is important at present.  We show interest to teach many forms of education from childhood but many of us skip on Food Education. Now we are in the position to teach “Food and health knowledge” in school for our generation.  The Food Education in primary schools brings the dietary eating habits knowledge among children from young age.

We know about the good food ingredients and cooking methods from our ancestors but we do not bring it into use often as the food culture is changing day to day. The years go on like this, our traditional food culture will become extinct.

At this time of our dying food culture, giving basic food education helps the school children for their better eating and healthy long life. Through food education curriculum, we shall teach the knowledge of food ingredients and food products, how the processed foods are prepared and teach basic cooking skills. The aim of the food education is not only to make the children to be talented and skilled in food, but also to involve them to learn healthy eating habits. This brings the own interest in children to plan the food.

Food ignorance brings nutrition deficiency and health decline of children, so the involvement and inspiration of food in childhood helps to prevent food ignorance. Through the food education parents would address the food needs of the children. We often are glad and think that our children are healthy if they are chubby, so we offer choice of processed foods for their wish. Even though we aware of processing food’s harm, we go for the children’s choice. But this results in becoming fat or obese, or week. The healthiest and nutritious food feed for the children till 10 years of age is the fundamental supplement that leads to the later healthy life.

In secondary schools, many vocational education are offered to the students. We say that the offering Vocational Education are skill oriented programmes that offer high possibilities of placement. But there is no culinary art / Hospitality education in schools which has the top opportunity and guaranteed jobs by ever growing Hospitality Industry.  By introducing culinary education curriculum in secondary schools we engage and train the young people for the careers in the food Industry. In schools we lay foundation through basic skills in food education further proficiency they will obtain in higher education, so ultimately they become industry oriented people.

“Rather than saying Education will help us, we ensure that learning period of the education itself will help us” RAJ MOHAN

After thinking over all, Introducing Culinary Education curriculum in Schools is timely need now. Everyone join together and try ahead.

Huge love

Chef.Raj Mohan M.S

Aadi Special Recipe - Saravana Payasam

Saravana Payasam is very tastiest payasam which specially served in the Tamil month of Aadi. This seems like alwa which melts in your mouth. This is best to try the saravana Payasam in Aadi Karthigai and get the blessings of Lord Muruga.

Ghee – 100ml

Vanaspati – 50g

Rawrice  - 1kg

Moong dal – 50g

Jaggery – ½ kg

Cashewnuts – 50g

Raisins – 50g

Banana, ripened – 4nrs

Tender coconut water – 200ml

Cardamom powder – 1 tbsp

Dry ginger – 1 tbsp

Method

1. Heat ghee and vanaspati in a vessel; add rinsed raw rice and moong dal. Fry in ghee.

2. Add enough water to bring the rice and moong dal to cook well. Once both cooks well, add jaggery syrup now. Stir continuously to combine the jaggery in the payasam mixture.

3. Add banana pieces, cardamom powder and dry ginger. Mix then add tender coconut water.  Keep the flame in simmer and go for careful mixing.

4. After that take it out from fire and finish with golden fried cashewnuts and raisins

Aadi Special Recipe - Kapparisi Sadham

Kapparisi Sadham is oblate to goddess Devi in the auspicious day of a Tamil Month, especially Tuesday and Friday of the Aadi Month of Tamil. Try the Kapparisi Sadham and receive the blessings of Devi Durga.

KAPPARISI SADHAM

Raw Rice

Fried Bengal Gram

Coconut, grated

Cashewnuts

Ghee

Cardamom Powder

Jaggery

Method

1 1.   Boil the rawrice. Heat ghee in a non stick pan, add fried Bengal gram and cashewnuts

2 2. Then add boiled raw rice, mix all well. Add thick jaggery syrup and stir.

3 3. Now add coconut and cardamom powder. Combine and atlast finish with little ghee.

Tasty Chicken Gravy in your Meal

Cooking with chicken meat doesn’t need craftsmanship like other meat though the prepared is taste able even if you prepared it in any style. Just think of the outcome if you prepare the same chicken dish with simple and neat procedure – hope you are now feeling to enjoy it, if so then you lets come with me.

Chicken shall be wash thoroughly, it is not at all new but you are doing that – Chicken gives good taste and fresh look in gravy by the way it is cleaned. Now mix the cleaned chicken pieces with turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt lets reserve it for few minutes.  In the same vessel, pour little water and cook the chicken in simmer after few minutes marination.

Take a good bottomed vessel, pour equal amount of coconut oil and refined oil. Allow kalpasi, saunf, Cinnamon to pop in hot oil. Now add small onions, sliced onion, slitted green chillies, sliced tomato, mint leaves and Poppy seeds (khus khus) at a time. Fry all now well till it becomes soggy – take your masalas i.e., chilli powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder, stir all gently. Pour enough water which is needed for your gravy. After starts roll boil, add already boiled chicken pieces and finely grinded coconut paste.

Allow the mixture to cook until it becomes your expected gravy consistency. Put garam masala powder, coriander and mint leaves (stir and simmer for a minute time) before take it away from fire.

Wow!! Observe your dining hall is filled with wonderful flavour of the gravy, now without your call there shall be guests in your house.

Try and enjoy the simple chicken gravy. Happy cooking and eating.

Biriyani – a delicious food gift

Lots of questions are remaining in us to ask about Biriyani. Preparing handsome biriyani needs meticulous attention that is apart from whatever we say in cooking. The juicy savor with blended flavour is most wanted one for good tasty Biriyani lovers.

When we ask about how we are reaching this beautiful flavour in Biriyani, the answer lies in careful stir fry of flavouring ingredients. Instead of sauté the biriyani ingredients in oil, those ingredients has to fry good in oil medium (mix of coconut oil, refined oil and ghee). As same the tomato, green chillies and ginger garlic paste should be added after other biriyani ingredients fried well in oil. Another sought thing is add whole green chillies rather than it is slitted, so the spiciness in green chilly goes into biriyani and sometime the slitting may cause sour taste to biriyani.

The ginger and garlic paste are the secret behind the flavouring enhancement. The proportion of ginger paste is slight more than garlic. Masala powder has to be mix with tomato, onion, green chillies, coriander leaves, mint leaves, ginger and garlic paste. Frying these ingredients cooked up the masala also this combination pulls the neighbours into your kitchen. Spices are also powdered separately and this shall be added with the ingredients while frying to improve the biriyani flavour.

Come to rice point, the rice is rinsed and drained honestly so that there should not be any sign of dampness in the rice. The drained rice must be resembles like dried rice. If you use rice in this form the prepared biriyani absorbed masala and rice granules are juicy.

Biriyani is also existed in ancient era; in earlier biriyani is a flavourful rice preparation. In ancient period, the habit of cooking meat and rice together was there in practice thus called as “Oonsoru or Ottukha” – just we say a forerunner of modern day biriyani. But over the periods the biriyani is prepared with little spicy / masala to the taste needs of South Indians.

Before going for the Biriyani dum, confirm the rice grains must have bit of watery condition thereby you cover the vessel with correct heavy size lid and top done with ember.  End up with another beautiful message, Ramba leaf, which smells like biriyani rice (seeraga samba rice) this leaf is used in the some biriyani preparation to enrich flavour and taste in biriyani.

“Indeed – Biriyani is a delicious food gift” you shall know after finishing this article….

Breaking the Ven Pongal

Hey! What special is there in the usual breakfast Pongal? This is a question you ask after run through this title. You just think out of Masala Pongal, mixing spices with Pongal and reforming it to trendy taste.

The masala agents in this Pongal shall give more satisfaction to stomach in the form of long lasting relief to hungry. The perfectly matched masala flavor brings outstanding taste.  Just think of the combination of Thengai Vittah sambhar and vadai with our master “Masala Pongal”, and Kara Chutney (Spicy Chutney) in the side of your plate while reading itself this all fetch you the feelings of full meals done.

Moong dal quantity is little less which is like usual Pongal. Cloves, Cinnamon, Saunf, Jeeragam and Peppercorns are used for tempering in fat (mix of oil & ghee). Then add one by one the onion (sliced), tomato (diced), green chillies, ginger (chopped), curry leaves, just sweat it. Next put coriander leaves (chopped), Carrot (big chop), green peas and add lemon juice. Add water (water should be sufficient) and allow to boil well, add the rinsed raw rice and moong dal in boiling water. Once it is cooked, Put Some ghee on top and cover it with lid for 15 minutes. Add few chopped coriander leaf and mix it well. Now our trendy Masala Pongal is ready.

In finishing stage, also throw some fried cashewnuts, whole black peppercorns and curryleaves on Masala Pongal. Serve the slipping masala Pongal.

Overwhelmed by the food trend and let’s enjoy.

Raj Food Philosophy

“My philosophy to food is simple, I could say food is a reformer of our soul and eating is one of life’s greatest happiness. The stage by stage difference in human body since from our birth happens due to food, I believe, our human body is fibered out of food.

Often we say that recipe is a center of cooking. I say, rather following recipes very strictly; possible keep this as guidelines for your cooking. I believe, Cook and add ingredients according to your sense, mind and the expected taste of your end product, these all make the cooking as your life pleasures. While one steps ahead we simply called it as Kai Manam (Skilled Cooking). Though the food has close bond with cooking when it is stimulated and twisted in right time, this ride highlights “Art of Cooking”.

On Heritage Food, I am telling, how much serious you are in protecting the genuineness in your food? As like our historical signs, the heritage food of our nation also speaks our traditional value. We are all not here for turning the food in to enemy and the present food habit makes us so afraid. Transfer the food culture of our generation through healthy approach to food and teach them better eating. If you do so, that will develop new chapter or revolution in food. So I am saying create huge awareness about healthy eating to our generation from very young stage and let’s go for the stage of balanced food.”

Promise yourself for rediscovering authentic food sense.

Huge love

Chef.Rajj M

Thengai Vittah Sambar – Seasoned Coconut Sambar

This time you shall take kitchen vessels for the preparation of breakthrough country flavour sambar recipe. Whatever the new sambar recipe introduced would be heartedly welcomes by us due to its affinity with our daily vegetarian diet. Thengai Vittah Sambar is guaranteed combination for steamed rice which is best at lunch. This never told recipe has no similarity with usual Araichu Vittah Sambar (Grounded Coconut Sambar) but this is meticulously prepared by coconut masala. This intrigue masala formula borrowed from the house of Thalavainadu.

You shall enjoy the cooking nuances now, let’s get into the kitchen

Toor dal – 250 Gram

Potato, diced -1

Tomato, diced -1

Ladies finger -3

Grated Coconut – Half

Cumin seeds – A Pinch

Shallots – 5

Chilli powder – Half Teaspoon

Sambar powder – ¼ Teaspoon

Turmeric powder – ½ Teaspoon

Asafoetida – A Pinch

Salt – To Taste

Mustard seeds – ¼ Teasppon

Dry Redchillies - 2

Curry leaves – A Few

Onion, sliced - 1

Oil – as required

Coriander leaves, chopped

Method

Boil toor dal separately. Heat oil in kadai adds onion and other vegetables. Stir now. Once it sauté, pour sufficient water to make the vegetables boil.

Prepare coarse masala with coconut, cumin seeds and shallots

Check the vegetables doneness now, and then add toor dal. Stir and allow the sambhar to boil.

Add coarse masala, shallots, chilli powder, turmeric powder and sambhar powder. Wait till the sambhar roll boil then add salt and mix.

Prepare the tempering, Simmer and pour it over Thengai Vittah Sambhar.

Throw the coriander leaves and serve.

Maximise the feel of taste in pleasure of cooking.

Note

Add very little sambhar powder. While making coconut masala be careful on mixing ingredients. The colour of Thengai Vittah Sambhar would be mild yellow colour. In case of twisting the sambhar taste add some tamarind extraction.

Madurai Special - Moinkha

Even though, the young generation inducted their food habit with modern foods like pizza, burger, our grandma and grandpa aged nutritious village foods such kuzhaiputtu, paniyaram, kuzhu kanji grace is not declined in Madurai.

Witness many food carts (thalluvandi) around Madurai streets and bazzar, those carts have many forgotten food items of other cities (the same may be declined from the food custom). This says that Maduraitties are brilliant in enjoying and tasting the food. If you make a visit to Madurai Meenakshi bazzar, you observe colourful and strings food items in cart. Among that yellow coloured wringled strings (Noodles) are Moinkha. After hearing the name, you feel there is no relation between moinkha and us. Of course, this is a traditional food from Burma. Moinkha means preserved or conserved food.

We have a controversy for many years, who had introduced the noodles either China or Italy? The recent archeological study through Chinese inscriptions reveals the presence of noodles in Chinese food customs during 300 A.C., through information; researchers gave an answer for the long year’s pending debate. In this form, the pride of introducing noodles is for Asians.

Though China was the introducer, now many other countries are in the taste clutch of Noodles. Noodles entered India during Second World War, from last ten years noodles food completely dominated our nation.

Initial stage the Burmian refugees introduced and sold the noodles varieties in food cart at large cities of Tamil Nadu. In course of time big companies get into the market and introduced packed noodles at doorstep thus scatter the food cart business.

Moinkha is a simple, comfortable evening tiffin and nutritious too. Moinkha noodle is specially prepared in Maida (refined flour). Also, garlic and onion fried in hot oil. Steamed noodles, fried onions and garlic combined together after that Paejha, specially made bread is crushed over the noodles. In blending with raw rice flour, soaked bengal gram is mixed and deep fried in hot oil, is called Paejha. Over this mixture coriander leaves is sprinkled and plantain pith soup is poured. Now the Moinkha is ready to eat.

Indeed….. Flavour kindles the nose and tastes touch the taste buds.

Don’t miss to taste Moinkha at Madurai Meenakshi bazzar……

Vegetable Kurma - lover of vegeterians

Hie friends,

Sharing you the researched and tested vegetable kurma recipe from my kitchen. Kurma recipe is the most sought recipe in internet and this is a dish liked by all level of people. This recipe really helps the foodies who want to dish out in real Indian food outlet taste. We carefully prepared this recipe to goes with wide range of delicacies. Try this at your house and leave your valuable comments.

Refined Oil	100g
Sounf	3g
Cinnamon	2g
Cardamom	2g
Onion	300g
Tomato	200g
Dalda (Vanaspati)	30g
Ginger	15g
Garlic	15g
Coriander leaves	5g
Mint leaves	5g
Turmeric Powder	3g
Chilli powder	5g
Green chillies	3g
Carrot	200g
Beans	100g
Dried Green peas	50g
Cauliflower	100g
Boiled Potato	200g
Coconut	01 nr
Cashew bits	50g
Khus Khus (Poppy seeds)	20g
Salt	20g
Garam Masala	1g
Water	2 ½ litre

        PREPARATION METHOD

     

1. Boil the potato separately in cooker. Mash it slightly and keep it aside.
2. Finely chop the onion and tomatoes. Also cut carrot, beans and cauliflower in to fine cubes.
3. Heat oil and dalda, season now with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and saunf. Fry till it gives good flavour and splutter.
4.  Add chopped onion, mint leaves, green chillies now and sauté it without changing onion colour.
5. Add ginger and garlic paste and fine chopped tomatoes. Mix all well.
6. After onion and tomato mix together, add the masala and salt. Let the masala brings good flavour by continuous stirring.
7. Then add 1 ½ litres of water now, when it boils add the dices of beans, carrot and cauliflower. Cover the vessel and allow the vegetables to cook.
8. Make qurma paste out of grated coconut, khus khus and cashewnuts by adding 250 ml of water. Now add qurma paste to the masala, mix it all well now.
9. Once the vegetables and qurma paste mixes well, reduce the flame slightly and add remaining water to the qurma.
10. Cover and stir whenever it necessary. Cook for another few minutes in slow fire. Check the consistency.
11. Finish with fine chopped coriander leaves.

Good time of your lighter moment with the lover of millions of vegetarians. Nice bite :)

Paal Bun (Milk Bun) – a challenge to Patisserie

Paal Bun is an impressible and most sought bite in tea stalls of Southern Tamilnadu. Some food makes you to feel, involves you to get know the recipe and induces you to prepare at home. But this soft bite paal bun stands for its extraordinary entities thus pulls our taste buds for its beautiful whitish sugary skin, neatly adorned desiccated coconut makes our eyes pop up and its preparation style challenging French patisserie custom. When I visited to taste paal bun, we read out the paal bun available only in particular time of a day and sold out in short span of time. Generally Paal bun offered in local tea stall tastes good rather than bakery shops.

Curd is mixed to produce lactic acid which is responsible for lactic taste and texture thus makes paal bun soft like as bun. This lactic acid ferments the paal bun mixture and reserves the mixture for fermentation between 1 and 1 ½ hour, if time raises the bun will lose its puff and soft nature when it is deep fry. Few add milk powder as one of the ingredient for name sake because in Tamil “Paal” means “Milk”.

100g of sugar granules is diluted in 250ml of water then put one kg refined flour (maida), 300ml curd, little refined oil and soda salt. Prepare it into soft blend, hold for fermentation and finally deep fry it in gentle hot oil.Get ready with sugar syrup made with milk, which is perfectly prepared two strings consistency. Let the deep fried buns to bath in sugar syrup for 20 minutes, afterwards precisely arrange paal bun in tray and brush up the buns with remaining sugar syrup. Atlast colourful desiccated coconut sprinkled over for eye appealing.

When we ordered for paal bun, was served paal bun with hot mixture (sev) and tastes really good. Combination of sweet and mild hot attaches the tea / coffee as its best friend.

Of course the genuine preparation style forerun the patisserie methods, have the cheer up with master creation "Paal Bun".

Original Kerala Fish Curry – Traditional Fish Curry recipe

Fish curry needs high attention in non vegetarian preparation, the amount of water and masala mixture speaks lot about the final feel of fish curry. Taking that into consideration here I am sharing you the best traditional home made fish recipe to prepare it very conveniently at your kitchen. Let’s enjoy the preparation

Ingredients

Firm fish with less bone (prefers Nei meen) -  1kg
Whole Shallots, peeled – 20g
Whole garlic, peeled – 2g
Ginger, juliennes – 1g
Coconut Milk – 40ml
Dry redchilli paste – 4g
Coriander powder – 4g
Turmeric powder – 1g
Salt – 10g
Kokum(Kodampuli), soaked in water – 5nrs
Water – 550ml
Coconut Oil – 20ml
Mustard Seeds – 1g
Fenugreek – 1g
Curryleaves – 1g
Tomatoes, cut it into four - 1

Method of Cooking

Heat Coconut oil, splutter mustard seeds and fenugreek

Add shallots, garlic, ginger and curry leaves. Gently fry without changing colour.

Add chilli paste, coriander powder and little turmeric powder. Mix all together.

Pour sufficient water now, add tomato and cover the lid till boil well

After it boils, add fish which marinated with turmeric powder and salt. Slightly mix and allow the fish to cook for next 2 minutes. Then add kokum into the fish curry and simmer for next ten minutes by covering lid.

Finish the fish curry with thick coconut milk. Simmer for one minute and mix. Now the red colour fish curry is ready to serve with boiled rice or appam.

Note

Usually fish curry tastes better only it is served few hours after preparation. Sometimes the claypot along fish curry (which used for fish curry preparation in South India) is kept on hay stalk overnight, to increase the taste and retain the heat of fish curry.

Chiili paste can be prepared by boiling the dry red chillies in water after that drain and fine paste it in mixie

Celebrate the glorious experience of spicy southern fish curry

CHETTINDAU CHICKEN KULAMBHU RECIPE - easiest way

Chicken – 2 ½ kg

Onion – ¾ kg

Tomato – ½ kg

Ginger Paste – 50g

Garlic Paste – 30g

Coconut oil – 100ml

Cinnamon – 2g

Cardamom – 1 g

Cloves – 1g

Bayleaves – 2nrs

Dry redchillies – 2g

Curryleaves – 1g

Coconut – 1

Chillipowder – 4g

Coriander powder – 5g

Turmeric powder – 2g

Water & Salt – as required

Method of preparation

1.   Fry the coconut and dry redchillies in coconut oil, and then grind it finely.

2.     Now heat the oil in a kadai, temper with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bayleaves. Once it splutters add sliced onion and sauté nicely.

3.    Add ginger and garlic paste, then add chopped coriander leaves and few curryleaves. Mix it all well for another 1 minute.

4.    Add the masalas (except turmeric powder) into it and stir all well. Now add chopped tomatoes, stir till the tomato mash and mix well with masalas – (see the oil ooze out from masala)

5.     Now add the marinated chicken which done with salt and turmeric powder mix well for another 1 minute. And add coconut masala mix it once again.

6.   Add the sufficient water; allow the curry to cook in simmering fire for next 20minutes.

7.     Finish with little coconut oil and chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Chicken Mundri - Same Chicken 65

Whatever varieties are there in chicken dishes but deep fried chicken (chicken 65) have significant place in foodies’ heart and their kitchen. This features as all time favourite from children to elders and it is a most browsing recipe worldwide.

Chicken Mundri is a handpicked recipe by Chef. Raj Mohan M.S on his own local authentic touch. Mundri means Crispy in nature, it would be like by your children and you feel the hotel taste Chicken 65.

Bold Chicken Pieces - 1 kg

Rice flour -  25g

Ginger paste – 7 g

Garlic paste – 4 g

Chilli powder – 12g

Turmeric Powder – 2g

Salt – to taste

Lime juice – 1 nr

Refined flour – 12g

Curry leaves – a few

Red colour – as required

Corn flour – 15g

Refined Oil – for deep fry

Method

Prepare the best masala marination with rice flour, ginger and garlic paste, refined flour, corn flour, turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt, lime juice, few curryleaves and enough redcolour in a vessel.

Put the cleaned bold chicken pieces in to the masala and drizzle little oil now, mix gently.

Reserve the portion for another 1 hour to allow the chicken to absorb masala.

Heat oil in kadai, and start to deep fry up to the surface reaches golden colour. Then take it out from hot oil.

After 6 minutes, again drop the fried chicken pieces into the hot oil and deep fry till the chicken pieces done.

Now the Chicken Mundri is ready to eat along onion roundels

Try this Chicken Mundri variation in your house and double your cooking taste

Note:

 I shared this simple chicken 65 variation based on my readers request.

Authentic Cooking Class and Food Safari for Foreigners at Madurai

A great opportunity for foreign visitors to Madurai can understand, learn and get train in the authentic South Indian Cuisine by the hands of our renowned Chef.Raj Mohan M.S.

No words to highlight the beauty of Madurai as like the taste of local cuisine in Madurai never fade out from our memories. The flavours of Madurai mesmerize your heart and tongue, anytime reminds you the word “Madurai”

Our Culinary Expert Chef.Raj Mohan Raghavan M.S demonstrates, teach, train and inspire you by his outstanding recipes which are collected in his years of culinary journey. This class facilitate the participants to learn the traditional Tamil Cooking. The subjects includes the down South Tamilnadu cuisine (Thalavainadu Food), Chettinadu food and the popular dishes of Madurai too.

Madurai is the hub of the "Traditional Tamil Food," here you will get all the popular dishes around Tamilnadu. So that here, we guide and arrange the food safari to foreign guests to visit the best eateries in Madurai to taste the outstanding mouth watering traditional delicacies in reasonable price. This Food Safari brings the foreign guests to understand traditional food of Tamilnadu with live interaction with our Chef. 

Make this visit most remarkable by learning South Indian Foods from temple city, Madurai and also the time you spent with us.

Enjoy the Culinary Extravaganza…. Looking to see you at here

For More information, you please contact

+91-7667828660