Idyappam

Ingredients:

• Rice Flour - 2 cups
• Water - 3 cups
• Salt - as required
• Shredded coconut

Accessories: Murukku press (choose the achchu with thin holes) & Idly mould

Procedure:

1. Boil 3 cups of water
2. In a bowl, take 2 cups of rice flour, add salt and mix well
3. When the water comes to boil, pour it into the bowl little by little and mix it with a spoon. Don't put your hands into it. The water will be very hot.
4. Mix the flour and water well. Make sure the dough is soft. You don't have to add all the 3 cups of water.
5. Take a hand full of dough and put it into the Murukku press and press into Idly mould. Sprinkle some shredded coconut on its top.
6. In pressure cooker, some water (2 or 3 cups). Place the Idly mould into it and close it with lid (without weight).
7. Let is steam cook for 10 mins.

NOTE: Idyappam goes well with Chicken curry, Kadalai Curry or some coconut milk and sugar.

Sweet Poli

Ingredients:

• Channa Dhal - 2 cups
• Cardamom - 3
• All purpose flour - 1 cup
• Sooji (Rava) - 1 tsp
• Salt - pinch
• Jaggery or Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup
• warm water - 1 cup
• Ghee or Butter - 1 tsp
• Oil

Procedure:

1. Cook Channa Dhal to tender. And let it cool.
2. In the mean time, take All purpose flour in a bowl. Add rava, ghee and pinch of salt. Mix well.
3. Add warm water little by little and make a soft dough.
4. To avoid dough sticking to hands, add few drops of oil.
5. Knead it well, so that it is very soft and stretchy. Cover the dough and keep it aside for 30 mins.
6. Take the cooled channa dhal and powder it in mixy. Make sure it is not too moist.
7. Add Jaggery or brown sugar little by little and mix well. If you want it more sweet, add more jaggery. Taste the mixture in between, so that it is not way too sweet. This is the Sweet Stuffing.
8. Make small balls out of the dough. 
9. Make balls (double the size of dough balls) out of sweet stuffing.
10. Take a dough ball, press its center and place the stuffing dough into it.
11. Stretch the dough from its side and cover the sweet stuffing.
12. Place it on a plastic sheet with oil applied to its surface.
13. Press it with hands and then roll it like chappathi.
14. Make it as thin as possible.
15. Cook it in a pan. Turn sides and make sure its well cooked both side.

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
• Eggs - 3
• Dates - 15 (cut into pieces)
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Carrot - 1 cup (shredded)
• Coconut - 1 cup (shredded)
• Vegetable oil - 1 cup
• Vanilla essence - few drops

Procedure:

1. Beat the eggs nicely for 5 mins in maximum speed
2. Add few drops of vanilla essence
3. Add Sugar and oil and again beat well for 3 mins
4. Mix grated coconut, shredded carrots and chopped dates with a spoon in same direction until it is well mixed.
5. Keep it aside for 30 mins
6. Apply butter to the cake mould
7. Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees
8. Pour cake mix into the mould and bake it for 30 mins
9. To make sure it is well baked, insert a toothpick at the center part of the cake.
10. If the cake mix doesn't stick to the tooth pick, then it is well cooked.
11. Let the cake cool for 15 mins.

Sweet Potato Halva

Serving size: 3
Ingredients:

• Sweet Potato - 3
• Sago - 1/2 cups
• Brown Sugar - 5 tbsp
• Cardamon - 5
• Cashew nuts - 10
• Ghee - 3 tbsp
• Water

Procedure:

1. Cook sweet potato until tender. Save the excess water for later use.
2. In a pan, add sago and 1/2 cup of water and cook until its well cooked.
3. Let the sweet potato and sago cool down.
4. Grind sweet potato and sago in mixy to make a very silky smooth paste. Add little water(remaining water from the cooked potatoes) if it is too dry.
5. In a pan, add 2 tbsp of ghee. Saute cashews. Once it becomes light brown, take it from the pan and keep it aside.
6. In the same pan with remaining ghee, add coarsely powdered cardamon and add the sweet potato & sago paste
7. Add sugar and keep mixing it. Taste for sweetness. Add more sugar at any time, according to your taste.
8. Keep mixing, until the mix gets thicken. if it sticks to the pan, add more ghee to it.
9. Finally, add cashews. Pour it into the serving bowl and let it cool. 
10. Keep it in refrigerator for 1 hour, once it cool down. 

NOTE: Milk can also be added in the process. It make the halva more rich.

Roomali Roti

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Maida flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• Rice flour - in small quantity
• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Warm water 
• Salt

Procedure:

1. Mix maida and wheat flour together. Add salt
2. Add warm water and knead a soft dough.
3. Keep it aside for 30 mins.
4. Take rice flour and spread it in a place.
5. Make small balls from the dough.
6. Take 2 small balls of dough, press it with fingers and make it flat
7. Apply ghee to 1 side of each hand pressed dough.
8. Place the dough on rice flour, so that rice flour sticks to the ghee coated side.
9. Place one dough on top of the other dough (ghee & rice flour coated side facing each other) 
10. Roll it together very thin. (as thin as possible). use maida flour to avoid dough sticking to the roller.
11. Heat dosa pan. make sure its really hot and place the rolled dough over it. Turn sides after few seconds.
12. The roti puff up and will be able to separate the 2 layers.

Hot & Sour Soup (Veg & Chicken)

Ingredients:

• Stock (Vegetable or Chicken Stock) - 4 cups
• Soy sauce - less than 1/4 cups
• Rice Vinegar - 2 tbsp
• Chilli sauce - 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Vegetables
• Mushroom - 2 big sized (chopped)
• Green onions(Spring onions) - 3 stems (chopped)
• Onions - 1/2 thin sliced
• Shredded carrots - 1/2 carrot
• Egg whites (from 1 egg)
• Corn flour - 2 tbsp (dissolved in little water)
• Chicken pieces - few (for chicken soup)

Procedure:

1. In a pan, add stock, soy sauce, rice vinegar
2. Add all chopped vegetables and chicken pieces. DO NOT add egg whites and green onions now.
3. Add chilli sauce and bring it to boil.
4. Check taste. Add little salt if the stock doesn't have salt in it. 
5. If you want it more spicy, add pepper powder.
6. When the mushrooms and chicken are well cooked, add egg whites to a strainer and drop it little by little.
7. Add corn flour (dissolved in water) liquid. This is to give some thickness to the soup.
8. Finally add chopped green onions and let it cook for 3 mins.
9. Enjoy the soup.

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour - 4 cups
• Eggs - 7
• Vegetable oil - 2 cups
• Vanilla essence - 2 tsp
• Cocoa powder - 3 tsp (heap)
• Dates - 15 (chopped)
• Nuts (Almonds, Walnuts,...) - 1 cup
• Baking powder - 1 tsp (heap)
• Sugar - 2 cups

Procedure:

1. Mix oil and sugar well
2. Beat eggs well separately, add vanilla essence and mix with oil and sugar.
3. Add baking powder, cocoa powder, nuts and dates to the flour and mix well.
4. Mix the flour mixture with egg+sugar_oil mix and stir all the above in same direction.
5.  Keep it for an hour
6. Bake in 250 degrees for 30 mins.
7. To make sure it is well bakes, insert a toothpick at the center part of the cake.
8. If the cake mix doesnt stick to the toothpick, it is well cooked.
9. Let the cake cool for 15 mins.