Monday, August 18, 2008

South Indian recipie

Our South Indian Recipes section contains recipes of traditional South Indian cuisines. Rice and coconut are extensively used in South Indian dishes. South Indian food is very spicy and is a brilliant blend of flavors, colors, seasoning, nutritional balance, fragrance, taste, and visual appeal. Try our delectable South Indian recipes.

When one thinks about Indian food the first thing that comes to mind are the curries. In fact, people in the world may not be aware of the various vegetable dishes that are made across the length and breadth of the country, but they definitely know about the curries of India. A proof of this is the number of restaurants serving this dish, as a specialty cuisine. World leaders have traveled to India and as part of the menu request is a variety of the curries made here.
SAMBAR
A popular dish of south India is a tomato and vegetable curry known as sambhar. This is served with rice, idli or dosa. Given here is the sambhar recipe:The ingredients:2 Cups of toor dal4 red chilles4 green chilles¼ teaspoon methi1 teaspoon sambhar masala powderA pinch of hingSalt to tasteOil2 teaspoons mustard½ teaspoon turmeric powder¼ teaspoon tamarind pasteDiced vegetables like drumstick, green pepper, brinjal and okra2 ½ cups of water Take a hollow cooking utensil and pour the water into it, let it come to a boil. Then add the turmeric powder and toor dal. Let the mixture boil and then separate the water from the dal and keep them aside. Pour the turmeric toor dal water into a hollow cooking dish and to this add the vegetables and salt. After this is cooked add in the turmeric paste. Then take a cooking pan, heat some oil and cook the methi, mustard, chillies, hing, turmeric powder and sambhar masala powder, together. Add this to the vegetables and then add the toor dal and let the entire mixture cook for about ten minutes.
s:
1 Cup rice
• 1 Cup dal mixture (toor, urad and gram dal)
• 1/4 Cup cabbage (chopped)
• 1/4 Cup onions (chopped)
• Few drumstick leaves
• 5 Red peppers
• 1/2 tsp Hing
• Salt to tasteHow to
make Adai:
Soak rice and dal mixture for 1 hour.
Add salt, red peppers and hing
Grind it.
Add curry leaves, chopped cabbage, onions and drumstick leaves.
Heat the pan.
Put the flour mixture and make into a flat shape.
Poke small holes and spread oil along the edges.
Turn over till it is cooked.
Adai is ready.


MURUKKU
Ingredients:
• 2 cups Rice Flour

• 1/2 cup Urad Flour
• 1/2 cup Besan Flour
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1 1/2 cup Water (to knead)
• 2 tsp Red Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• A fistful of Sesame Seeds
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

How to make Muruku:
Take a bowl and put rice flour, urad flour, besan flour, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, red chili powder, sesame seeds, and salt into it. Mix them well.
Soften the butter and add it into the mixture.
Now add water slowly into the mixture and knead it to make soft dough.
Place a lump of dough in Muruku Maker. Pipe out the patterns, forming circles, on a greased plate.
Heat oil over medium flame.
Carefully fry murukus in the oil, without touching each other.
Fry till they turn light golden brown in color.
Place the murukus on a kitchen paper towel, to drain the surplus oil.
Allow them to cool.
Murukku is ready to eat. Store in a dry container.



ADHIRASAM


Ingredients:
• 1/2 kg Rice










• 300 gm Jaggery














HOW TO MAKE ADHIRASAM














• Oil for fryingHow to make Adhirasam:
• Soak rice in water for half an hour.
• Spread it on a large cloth or newspaper for half an hour.
• When it is three fourth dried, put it in a mixie and powder it.
• issolve jaggery in minimum water and mix well.
• Put this on heat.
• Cook it until the jaggery syrup becomes thick like a paste.
• Combine this syrup with the powdered rice and mix well to make dough.
• Cover it and leave it for about 8 hours.
• Take 2 cups of oil and heat it.
• Make a ball of out of the dough on a plastic sheet and flatten it by hand.
• Fry in oil until it becomes golden brown on both sides.







Aloo Bonda Recipe


Ingredients:
• 4 Potatoes • 2 Cups besan • 2 Green chilies • 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder • 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder • 1/4 tsp Garam masala • 2 Cups oil



How to make Aloo Bonda:
•Boil the potatoes and mash it properly.
•Add red chili powder, garam masala, chopped green chilies to mashed aloo.
•Make ball of mashed aloo mixture.
•Add water to besan and make a batter of medium consistency.
•Now add turmeric powder and salt to batter.
•Dip each ball in the batter.
•Fry it till it turns golden brown.
•Serve hot with tomato ketchup.









Banana Vada Recipe
Ingredients:
• 4 Raw bananas • 1 Cup soaked chana dal • Chopped onions • Coriander • 2 Spoons of rice flour • 3-4 Green chilies • Salt to taste • Ginger • Oil

How to make Banana Vada:

Peel off the raw bananas and cook in a pressure cooker.

Mash them and leave aside.

Mince the soaked chana dal, green chilies and ginger into fine paste without using water.

Add banana paste, chopped onions, rice flour, salt and coriander.

Mix properly and give it the shape of cutlets.

Deep fry till golden brown.

Banana Vada is ready.

Serve with tomato ketchup.



































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Capsicum Curry
Capsicum curry is my sister's speciality. I learnt it from her and it is very easy to prepare and tasty too.
Few do not like because of its watery nature, but it is worth due its nutritional value.
Capsicum is also called as "Pepper".
Info from Wiki
The misleading name "pepper" (pimiento in Spanish) was given by
Christopher Columbus upon bringing the plant back to Europe. At that time peppercorns were a highly prized condiment. Today, the term "bell pepper" or "pepper" or "capsicum" is often used for any of the large bell shaped capsicum fruits, regardless of their color. In British English, the fruit is simply referred to as a "pepper", whereas in many Commonwealth of Nations countries, such as Australia, India, Malaysia and New Zealand, they are called "capsicum".
Ingredients:Capsicum - 5 or 6Onions - 2Curry Leaves - FewGreen Chilli - 3Oil - 2 TspTurmeric Powder - 1/2 TspMustard Seeds - 1/4 TspSalt - As required
To Grind:Red Chilli - 5Urad Dhal - 1 TspChanna Dhal - 1 TspCoriander Seeds - 2 TspsCoconut - 6 Tsps

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Tamil Actors

Rajinikanth Born - 12 December 1949Achievements - Rajinikanth is an immensely popular actor of the South Indian film industry. Recipient of the coveted Padma Shri Award in the year 2002, he has worked in a string of hit films like Murattukaalai, Pokkiri Raja, Thanikattu Raja, Naan Mahaan Alla and Moondru Mugam. Rajinikanth is a celebrated actor of the South Indian film industry i.e. Tollywood. Born on 12 December 1949, Rajnikanth's was originally named Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. The most unique feature about Rajnikanth's acting is that he can enact comedies, drama, suspense and thrillers with absolute ease. In recognition of marvelous contribution to Indian cinema, he was recently awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in the year 2002. To know more, read on this biography of Rajnikanth. Rajinikanth hails from a Marathi family of Bangalore in the Karnataka state and was the fourth child of his parents, Jijabai and Ramoji Rao. Although his mother tongue is Marathi, yet Rajnikanth never acted in any Marathi movies till date. His childhood was spent in poverty and he worked as a bus conductor prior his film career. However, it was during this period that Rajnikanth sharpened his acting skill by participating in various theatre plays. In the year, 1973, he joined the Madras Film institute to acquire a basic course in acting. Initially while working in Tamil cinema, Rajnikanth was given supporting roles like that of a cancer patient in the 1975 film, Apoorva Raagangal directed by K. Balachander. Balachander gave Rajnikanth the name, by which the world now acknowledges him. But it was director, SP Muthuraman who actually revamped Rajnikanth's image by casting him in varied roles. For instance, Rajnikanth was given a positive role in film, Bhuvana Oru Kelvikkuri (1977). By this time, film Mullum Malarum had Rajnikanth a firm foothold in the Tamil film arena. The period from 1980 to1989 was the real turning point in the career of Rajnikanth as it took him to soaring really high. However, Rajinikanth abruptly decided to leave acting, but ultimately was coaxed back into it after sometime. He starred in Billa that was a remake of Amitabh Bachchan's Don and it turned out to be a blockbuster hit silencing all his critiques. This was followed by more successful films like Murattukaalai, Pokkiri Raja, Thanikattu Raja, Naan Mahaan Alla and Moondru Mugam. That popularity of Rajnikanth can simply be gauged by the fact that even two decades after the release of his old hits, they continue to make profits at the box office. K. Balachander's first home production, Netrikan proved to be yet another milestone in Rajini's career. And in his 100th movie, Sri Raghavendra, he played the Hindu saint Raghavendra Swami. Another of Rajnikanth's recent hits was Shivaji released in the first half of 2007.

AASAI AJITH
BiographyAjith Kumar(born May 1, 1971) is an Indian film actor who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies. Starting his career as a mechanic, Ajith made his acting debut in his only Telugu-language film-to-date, Prema Pustagam in 1992, which was followed by Amaravathi in the following year, his first lead role. After acting in a series of smaller budget films, Ajith was later recognized for his performance an anonymous lover in the award-winning movie Kadhal Kottai. He went on to demonstrate his versatility as an actor by portraying a variety of unique characters.Ajith received his first ...
Posted by Patel Suresh at 10:14 AM 0 comments

ILAYATHLAPATHI VIJAY
His mother tongue is Tamil. He began his career doing minor roles as a child artist in the Tamil cinema industry.Joseph Vijay was born on June 22 to S.A. Chandrasekhar and Shoba Chandrasekhar. He had a sister named Vidhya who died when she was just two.Vijay studied Visual Communications at Loyola College, but dropped out to pursue an acting career.He is interestingly also a classmate of Surya Sivakumar, Yuvan Shankar RAja, Karthik Raja , Jeevan and Vishnuvardhan.He married Sangeetha on 25th August 1999. They have two children, Jason Sanjay, born on August 26, 2000 in London. and Divya Saasha born on September 9, 2005 in Chennai.
Posted by Patel Suresh at 10:07 AM 0 comments

Chiyaan Vikram

Acting CareerSethu, which was released in 1999, was Vikram's first blockbuster though he made his debut almost a decade earlier. The film grossed over Rs.50 million at the box office. Vikram's second blockbuster Dhill came in 2001. The film grossed over Rs.100 million at the box office. Vikram's third blockbuster Gemini came the very next year in 2002. It grossed over Rs.200 million at the box office. Vikram's fourth blockbuster Dhool and fifth blockbuster Saamy both came in 2003. Vikram's next blockbuster in 2003, was the critically acclaimed Pithamagan which fed him the National Film Award for Best Actor. The film prompted S. Shankar to notice his rising graph and booked him for his high budgeted Anniyan'it was superhit'.Vikram being, prominent in the Tamil and Telugu film industries, had made his first appearance in Bollywood through Anniyan which was dubbed and released in Hindi as Aparichit. Anniyan was also dubbed in French, the first Tamil film to be done so.Vikram (Tamil: விக்ரம்) is an Indian actor, who starred in a number of top-grossing Tamil films and is currently one of the reigning heroes of Tamil Film Industry (aka Kollywood). With numerous blockbusters to his credit, Vikram has carefully niched a place for himself on the silver screen. Noted films that gave him the star status include Dhruvam, Sethu, Dhill, Kasi, Dhool, Saamy, Gemini, Pithamagan, Anniyan and Bheema.Personal lifeVikram was born on April 17, 1966 , Paramakudi, Ramnad district, Tamil Nadu. His Mother Tongue is Tamil.He did his high schooling at Montfort Boys Anglo-Indian higher secondarySchool at Yercaud, Salem.He went to Loyola College in Chennai, India.[citation needed]Vikram's father is also a supporting actor, acting in many films. He is known for his role in Ghilli as Trisha Krishnan's father. Vikram and his father have not appeared together in a film yet.Acting CareerSethu, which was released in 1999, was Vikram's first blockbuster though he made his debut almost a decade earlier. The film grossed over Rs.50 million at the box office. Vikram's second blockbuster Dhill came in 2001. The film grossed over Rs.100 million at the box office. Vikram's third blockbuster Gemini came the very next year in 2002. It grossed over Rs.200 million at the box office. Vikram's fourth blockbuster Dhool and fifth blockbuster Saamy both came in 2003. Vikram's next blockbuster in 2003, was the critically acclaimed Pithamagan which fed him the National Film Award for Best Actor. The film prompted S. Shankar to notice his rising graph and booked him for his high budgeted Anniyan'it was superhit'.Vikram being, prominent in the Tamil and Telugu film industries, had made his first appearance in Bollywood through Anniyan which was dubbed and released in Hindi as Aparichit. Anniyan was also dubbed in French, the first Tamil film to be done so.
Posted by Patel Suresh at 9:52 AM 0 comments

KAMALAHASAN

BIOGRAPHY - KAMALAHASAN of Birth 7th November 1954, Paramakudi India HeroMini BiographyKamal Haasan was born on 7th November 1954. In 1960 he starred as a child artist in 'Kalathoor Kannammaa', his first movie. Ever since, he has starred in more than 150 movies, in almost all the major Indian languages - Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. His trajectory in the Indian film industry is one prototypical journey, where he started as a child artist, then continued as a romantic hero, and finally evolved into one of the best actors India has ever produced. As most of his movies are in Tamil, he might not have numbers like Amitabh Bachan or the recent stars like Shah Rukh Khan, but very few actors have given such a wide array of versatile performances over the last two decades like Kamal. He had to occasionally work through the commercial roles and trashy movies to finance the movies he wanted to produce with his heart - but the movies that resulted out of his artistic potential - they were in a class apart. 16 Vayadhinilae, Nayakan, Guna, Mahanadhi, Hey Ram and Alavandaan are some of the must-watch among his movies. Had he been a star in Hollywood, he would now be effortlessly rubbing shoulders with extremely talented actors like Jack Nicholson of yesteryears and Tom Hanks of the present day.IMDb Mini Biography By: RR(1988- 2002) (divorced) 2 Vani Ganapathi - 1988) (divorced)TriviaHis innovative acting has earned him the title "the first, and perhaps the last, complete hero in Indian Cinema"Kamal's hobby is magicOn April 27 2002 Kamala Haasan was detained at Toronto airport and denied boarding his flight to L.A. because he had an Arab name/look and was considered a potential terrorist.Is the only actor to have earned a Best Actor in a Leading Role award and a Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination for the same movie Saagar (1985)) at Filmfare Awards.Is a very very strong fan of Ilayaraja and always ropes him as the composer for all his home productionsHas two daughters,Shruthi K Hasaan and Akshara.Gets his wife/girlfriend to do costumes for his filmsSeven movies that he has starred in have been sent to represent India in Oscars for Best foreign movie category, highest by any Indian.Trained in the classical Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam.Has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Hindi films.Personal Quotes"A London editor once told me that the best way to put news hounds off your scent is to lie inventively""The closest I feel to is Dustin Hoffman who shares many of my paradoxes. Physical appearance to begin with."
Posted by Patel Suresh at 9:26 AM 0 comments
Saturday, August 16, 2008

PURATCHI KALAIGNAR VIJAYAKANTH
A. Vijayaraj Naidu, popularly known as Vijayakanth, born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India on August 25, 1952, is a popular Tamil film actor and politician. His ancestry being settled in Andhra Pradesh, his family later moved to Tamil Nadu before his birth. He is well known for his patriotism and philanthropy.Vijayakanth, who's affectionately called 'Puratchi Kalaignar' and 'Captain' by his fans and well-wishers, had to face so many challenges and unfriendly situations before he could achieve the fame and popularity he's enjoying to-day in Tamil filmfield. He, whose original name was Vijayaraj, was born on 25th August, at Madurai, Tamilnadu, his parents being Azhagarsamy-Andal. When he was one year old his mother Andal passed away. His parents had three more children. To bring up the one year old baby Vijayakanth and because of the pressure exerted upon Vijayakanth's father by all the family members, the latter (Father of Vijayakanth) married one Rukmani as his second wife. This couple gave birth to 7 children. All these members now live together happily in a joint family. From 1st std. to 5th std. Vijayakanth studied at a particular school. He finished his 6th std. at M.C.High School. He pursued his 7th and 8th std. at Devakottai school. He did his 9th std. at a different school. 10th and 11th std. were studied by him at St. Mary's school. During that period, Vijayakanth was looking after his father's rice-mill business. So he couldn't pursue his studies beyond 11th std. Vijayakanth had some close friends then. One notable friend among them was A.Se. Ibrahim Rawther (who's even now with Vijayakanth as if his own-brother and has also earned the distinction of being one of the leading film producers in cinefield). All these friends in those days used to gather together near Sena's Films, a films distribution company, at Madurai. Marsook, the proprietor-distributor of Sena's Films, used to keenly observe the activities of Vijayakanth. One day he asked Vijayakanth whether the latter was interested in acting in films. Out of pressure from his friends, Vijayakanth agreed to act in films. Subsequently he (Vijayakanth) was booked for acting in the film "Yen Kelvikku Yenna Pathil?". Yet, after some time, he was dropped from the project on the ground that he was not good at Tamil dialogue delivery. This elicited a great passion within his heart that he took a vow to get into cine acting with renewed efforts and to make his career a rewarding success! With this one objective in mind, he knocked at the doors of each and every film company asking for acting chance. But there was not any positive response. Marsook had then distributed so many films directed by M.A.Kaja! Vijayakanth was introduced to Kaja by Marsook. As a result Vijayakanth was booked in "Inikkum Ilamai". This was the first film acted by Vijayakanth. After this, he acted in "Thooraththu Idi Muzhakkam", "Neerottam" and "Agal Vilakku". These films didn't bring great success. Yet Vijayakanth too didn't lose heart. He waited for good opportunity. 'Vadaloor Combines' proprietor Chidambaram saw "Neerottam" at Krishnaveni theatre, T.Nagar, Chennai. Seeing Vijayakanth in action, he started developing some interest in him as he identified some hopeful, positive traits in his (Viyayakanth's) style of acting and personality. He wanted to produce a film by booking Vijayakanth. His wish got materialized through "Sattam Oru Iruttarai". In this project too there arose stiff opposition from some quarters protesting against giving the hero chance to Vijayakanth in the film! Yet, overlooking all these objections, the producer stood firm in his decision and made Vijayakanth the hero! S.A.Chandrasekaran directed this film. When, finally, the film got released, it proved to be a grand success! Subsequently Vijayakanth was booked in 18 new films. While he was doing these films, at a specific period, his cinema market started becoming dull again! At this juncture, the film "Saatchi" was released. Vijayakanth had done the lead role in it. S.A.Chandrasekaran had directed it. P.S.Veerappa had produced it. This film, in it's turn, created a new success record. The following is a popular dialogue written by Kalaignar Karunanidhi: "Veezhvathu Naamaaga Irunthaalum Vazhvathu Thamizhaaga Irukkattum".Vijayakanth picked up these words as his heart-loving golden rule. Whenever he addresses any function or releases some press statement or birth day message, he uses to add the words 'Tamil', 'Tamil', 'Tamil' as one of his most ideal slogans. The recent release "Ulavuththurai" is his 125th film. Upto this film he hasn't so far acted even in a single, other language film. He's the only Tamil actor who has achieved this distinction! Though actor Sarathkumar had already acted in films before, his role in "Pulan Visaranai" in which he teamed with Vijayakanth proved to be one of the great limelights in his acting career. Vijayakanth introduced Mansoor Alikhan to filmfield through his "Captain Prabaharan". He (Vijayakanth) has introduced through his different films, film institute students like R.K.Selvamani, R.Aravintharaj, Ilavarasan and a few others as newface film directors. Many different newface heroines also have got introduced through his films. Though Vijayakanth hasn't acted in other language films, each and every film of him has been dubbed into Telugu language and thus has led to huge revenue collection too!