Dear Friends, I will write about the Kitchen Electroni Gadgets I use at home.I plan to write about only what I am using, myself. These are bought in Chennai and are suitable for 220 volts. Please make sure that the electrification is safe before plugging and using these gadgets. Care: Please wash and wipe (or dry wipe, as the case may be), immediately after use and dry them. There should not be wetness or moisture in the jars etc which will produce unpleasant smells. The way in which we handle them and the care we take to maintain them are very important. I am closing this thread because, I want this thread to be only for information and not interaction. Please post your comments in : Chitvish Recipes - Post your comments here and your queries in Ask here - The recipes you want from ChitVish Please do remember my limitations! Love, Chithra.
Mini Dry-Grinder This is called Coffee Grinder, in shops. If you cook elaborately, I suggest, you have 2 no:s, one for sweets and the other for savouries. This is because, we cannot wash the jars with water - it is not recommended.Only wiping must be done. Mine is Nova (available in plenty in Chennai - I find all Nova products very good). This is in plastic & I am able to clean it easily, unlike metal. The following is my "old-faithful" Braun which has a metallic jar & I use it for pepper-jeera, powdering for rasam etc.
Food Processor - Medu Vadai Basically, ulundu vadai and medu vadai are the same. But, a chef explained to be a small change in the recipe - this is purely optional. To 1 cup of urad, 1/3 cup of cooked rice can be added towards the end.One can substitute the same amount of soaked poha also. Soak urad dhal for 15 mts & drain for 2 hrs (yes!). Put irt dry in the food processor fixed with mincer blade; grind without adding water. Then add water in teaspoons & continue to grind till it reaches, fine rava consistency (note - it need not fluff up). At this stage, add alreadt ground green chillies+ginger+curry leaves+hing+salt. Grind & see if you can take a ball in your hand. Now follow Shaping Ulundu Vadai
Food Processor - Poli Dough Use the plastic kneading attachment. Poli dough comes out unbelievably soft in the FP. Outer dough: Maida - 11/4 cups Wheat flour - 2 tbsp (or cornflour) Oil - 2 tbsp Powdered sugar - 2 tsp Lemon yellow colour Knead the above ingredients with water to a very soft elastic dough. Soak this completely in oil for minimum 1 hr. Then make filling and proceed as usual.
Food-Processor - steel blades This is ideal for 1 - mincing anything. I mince green chillies - ginger each 50 gms with a tsp of sat & store in lock & lock boxes. I also mince ginger-garlic (I prefer not to make it a paste) same way & store 2 - Chopping to desired size, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, beetroot cubes...... etc for stuffing in parathas, koftas etc. Chopping cabbage for curries 3 - Grinding for paruppusili, ama vadai,adai & ulundu vadai 4 - mincing tomatoes, onions etc - extremely convenient.Store chopped (or minced) onions in lock & lock. 5 - this can also be used for chappathi dough - I saw this on a website! For chopping green chillies: Chop Chillies - Food Processor I will add on more uses. Please go to Chocolate Pedas Chiroti Rava Badusha Ginger Pakoras Maddur Vada Crisp Samosas Mangalore Bonda Kunukku Bajji Rice Roti Dhokla Cashewnut Pakoda Milakai Bajji Kachori Bangalore Pakodas
Food-Processor - Plastic Blades This blade is ideal for all doughs: chappathi Puri Naan Bread Bhatura Badusha Samosa , kachori etc Any savoury - bakshanam All batters Please go to To knead dough for rotis, using FP Rosogullas in the making - food processor Khasta Kachori - 1 Patnam Bakoda. Biscuit Pakoras Crisp Samosas Bajji Rice Roti Dhokla Milakai Bajji Kachori
Citrus Fruit Juicer This is a very useful gadget on an almost daily basis for fresh orange or musumbi juice. Mine is Braun. It is ideal for extracting juice from limes when we plan to make lemon squash.
Hand blender The electric hand blender is a very useful gadget in the kitchen, to give smooth results. It is ideal for pureeing, milk shakes & blending. It has a light-weight handle, fitting perfectly in the hand and it comes with a tall 2-cup bowl, to prevent messy splashing. Running this through cooked dhal gives dhal a smooth texture.Any narrow mouthed vessel can be used. Mine is Braun. Read the tips at the bottom. I find it ideal to puree tamarind+tomato for rasam, sambar etc. It is perfect for greens. I use this for pureeing soups. I personally feel, the blender gives a sticky consistency whereas this is better. Tips: If a custard mixture turns lumpy while cooking, quickly run through the handblender for just 10 secs to get a smooth mixture. If a kheer starts slightly curdling, the same trick helps. I use this for akkaravadisal, sakkarai pongal etc, VERY JUDICIOUSLY to get a smooth texture. If the caramel paysam is grainy, do the same, but make sure THE PAYASAM DOES NOT TURN MUSHY! This gives a very smooth texture to any batter (appam, rava dosai or any flour-blended dosais), appam batters, athirasam batter etc but cannot be used for dough. I will add further uses.
Bullet Magic Blender This is dry grinder+blender. For details, please go to The Magic Bullet Blender - Official Website I ordered and got this through eBay.in. for Rs 1649. The main difference between the small mixi & jar & this is: Quantities, as little as 1-2tsp can be ground fine dry as well as into paste. This can be equated to "Ammikal" (pestle & mortar type) of South Indian cooking.This dry grinds, makes a paste, chops onions etc very fine, blends smoothies and juices. This comes with 4 party mugs; 2 have closing lids. So, 2 different pastes or juices or smoothies can be directly done in them and refrigerated till use. 4 different smoothies can be done directly and refrigerated till use with different coloured rings for identification. I powdered khus khus very successfully in this. The following is - almond powder (8no:s), khuskhus pouwder, chat masala, pepper-jeera rasam powder, mint powder I minced shredded coconut pieces. I ground small quantity sambar masala. I made apple+mint+pineapple juice, I made a savoury cucumber smoothy & date-almond milk shake.
Salad Shooter - 1 I got this for my daughter in '92! Going strong still. For details go to Welcome to SaladShooter.com Excellent for grating: Cabbage Nuts Onion & green chillies