This is my entry for this month's AFAM ( A Fruit A Month) : Dates by Chandrika of
Akshayapatra. Thanks Chandrika for hosting this wonderful event.
Ingredients:
- Dates - chopped 1/2 cup
- All purpose flour - 1 cup
- Butter - 2 1/2 tbsp
- Orange juice - up to 1/2 cup
- Baking soda - less than 1/2 tsp
- Coconut - 1/2 cup shredded
- Sugar - 1 cup
How to make it:
Preheat oven at 300 degree Fahrenheit. Mix all purpose flour, butter, baking soda and sugar together. Add coconut and dates. By adding orange juice ( Orange flavour adds a kick to the crunchy taste) little by little, mix it to form a dough. Roll the dough and cut into equal portions. Make balls out of it and press to form a round shape. Or use a cookie cutter to make it in a simple way. Arrange in a cookie tray and bake it at 300 degree Fahrenheit until golden brown.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Lot of great deals and lot of shopping. Stuffing Turkey for Thanksgiving is the special dish in every home. Being a vegetarian, i thought why not stuff a vegetable?. Thus came this stuffed tomatoes ...
Ingredients:
Small tomatoes - 4
For Gravy:
- Onion - 1
- Tomato paste - 1 tbsp
- Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
- Cashews
- Almonds
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Bay leaf - 1
- Fennel seeds
- Chilli powder
- Salt
For Stuffing:
- Potato - 1
- Onion - 1 small
- Ginger - 1/2 inch
- Corriander leaves
- Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
- Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
- Salt
How to make it:
Boil the potato and mash it nicely. Add chopped onions, shredded ginger, chopped corriander leaves, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Cut the top of tomato and scoop out all the pulp inside. Stuff the potato mix inside and cover it with the cut part of tomato. Press gently so that it closes properly. Set aside. Grind the pulp from tomato, onion, cashews, almonds and garlic into a paste. Heat oil and butter in a non stick pan and add bay leaf, fennel seeds, ground paste, tomato paste, corriander powder, chilli powder and salt. Cook until the raw smell is gone and until oil separates. Now arrange the stuffed tomatoes in this gravy and cook covered for some more minutes until the skin of tomato starts to shrink. Garnish with corriander leaves, cashews and cream. Serve hot.
Gingerrrr... a must in my spice rack. Its a well known fact that it has got medicinal values and adds a great flavour to most of the recipes. Head ache... cold... cough!!? How about having a refreshing hot ginger tea for a great relief?
My entry for Think spice.... think ginger event by
Sunita's World -- Ginger Chutney. This goes well with dosas and idlis. Can be taken with plain rice along with chips, a simple but lovely combination. Here's the recipe.
Ingredients:
- Ginger - 1/2 cup chopped
- Coconut - 1/4 cup
- Corriander Leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
- Curry leaves - 1/4 cup
- Green chillies - 4 or 5
- Tamarind - small ball size
- Salt
For seasoning: Oil, red chillies and Mustard seeds
How to make it:
Grind all the above into fine paste and do the seasoning with red chillies and mustard seeds. Serve with dosa, idli or with plain rice.
This is my contribution to "Powerless Cooking" by
Easycrafts. My entry did not use any kind of electric appliances ... not even my stove, as it uses electric lighter.
Ingredients:
- Puffed Rice - 1 cup
- Beetroot - 1 (small)
- Carrot - 1
- Onion - 1 (small)
- Corriander Leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
- Chat masala powder - 1/2 tsp
- Amchur Powder - 1/2 tsp
- Chilli Powder - a pinch
- Peanuts (Roasted) - 1/2 cup
- Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
How to make it:
Shred carrot and beetroot using a shredder. Chop onions very finely. In a bowl, add the shredded carrot, beetroot, 3/4 part of the onions, 1/2 of corriander leaves, peanuts, amchur powder, chilli powder, chat masala powder, coconut oil and salt and mix it together. Add the puffed rice to it and mix well. Garnish with more onions and corriander leaves and serve. I had some oma podi, i already made and added that on top for extra crunchy - munchy taste. Enjoy your evening snack!
Poori
Ingredients:
- Wheat Flour - 1 cup
- All Purpose Flour (Maida) - 1/2 cup
- Rava - 1/4 cup
- Salt
- Oil - for frying
How to make it:
Knead the wheat flour, maida, rava and salt with water into a soft dough. Make into small balls, press gently into round shape and deep fry in oil until golden brown.
Channa Masala
Ingredients:
- Channa - 2 cups
- Potato - 2
- Tomato - 2
- Onion - 2
- Red chilli - 3
- Green chilli - 2
- Curry leaves
- Cloves - 4
- Elaichi -3
- Ginger - 1 inch
- Garlic - 3 pieces
- Bay leaves - 2
- Butter - 1 tbsp
- Jeera - 1 tsp
- Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
- Corriander leaves
How to make it:
Boil potatoes, peel the skin and cut into small pieces. If using raw channa, soak in water for at least 8 hours and pressure cook with little salt. Chop tomatoes and onions. Heat oil in a pan fry onions, tomatoes, red chilli, ginger, garlic, cloves and elaichi. Let it cool down and grind into a paste. Heat oil in a kadai, add butter and oil and fry bay leaves, jeera and fennel seeds. Add the paste ( add little water if necessary) and fry for 5 minutes until oil separates. Add potatoes, curry leaves and Channa and cook until it becomes thick. Garnish with corriander leaves, finely chopped onions and a squeeze of lemon.
I wish all my friends, family members, fellow bloggers and the visitors of
CHANDRABHAGA a very
Happy,
Prosperous,
Colourful,
Wonderful and
Safe Diwali.
This is my Diwali Gift to you all...
These are the items i made for Diwali:
- Gulab Jamun ( yes, your guess is right. Its with ready mix )
- Rava Laadu
- Ashoka Halwa
- Ribbon Pakoda
- Oma Podi
Here are the recipes:
No recipe for gulab jamun, as it was made with ready mix.
Rava Laadu
Ingredients:
- Rava - 1 cup
- Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
- Elaichi - 4
- Cashews
- Raisins
- Cloves - 4
- Ghee - 1/2 cup
How to make it:
Roast rava in a dry pan and grind it into a powder. Add powdered sugar and Powdered elaichi and cloves to it. Heat little ghee, fry cashews and raisins and add it to the rava. Melt remaining ghee until it is warm and mix it together with rava and make balls of even size.
Ashoka Halwa
Ingredients:
- Moong dhal - 1 cup
- Sugar - 2 1/2 cups
- Milk - 2 to 3 cups
- Elaichi - 3
- Cashews - few
- Raisins - few
- Saffron - a pinch
- Ghee - 1/4 cup
- Red food colour - a pinch
How to make it:
Wash moong dhal thoroughly in water and pressure cook by adding milk. Mash it until smooth. In a large pan, add the mashed moong dhal and sugar and mix it until it gets hardened. You have to keep on stirring until its done. When it starts sticking to the pan add ghee little by little. Add cardamom and food colour. Stir until it comes together without sticking to the pan. If it sticks to the pan, add more ghee. Add fried cashews and raisins. once done, transfer it to a bowl and add a pinch of saffron.
Ribbon Pakoda
Ingredients:
- Besan Flour - 1 cup
- Rice Flour - 3 cups
- Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
- Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
- Salt
- Butter - 1 tbsp
- Oil - for frying
How to make it:
Slightly roast the flour in a dry pan and let it cool down. Add butter, salt, chilli powder and asafoetida powder to it. Mix it into a soft dough by adding water. Grease murukku mould. (Choose the murukku slide with a slot of the size of a ribbon). Put dough into the mould and squeeze slowly into the hot oil. When it turns brown, take it onto a paper towel and drain off excess oil. Allow it to cool.
Oma Podi
Ingredients:
- Besan Flour - 1 cup
- Rice Flour - 1 cup
- Ajwain seeds - 2 tbsp
- Chilli powder - 1 tsp
- Salt
- Butter - 1 tbsp
- Oil - for frying
How to make it:
Soak ajwain seeds in 1/4 cup of water for 10 minutes and grind it into a paste. Slightly roast the flour in a dry pan and allow it to cool. Add the chilli powder, butter, salt, and ajwain paste to it. Mix it into a soft dough by adding water to it. Grease a murukku mould and this time select the slide with small holes. Add dough into the mould and squeeze it directly into the hot oil. Fry on both sides and until it turns brown and take it to a paper towel to drain off excess oil.
The gift box was made out of paper plates by folding all the four sides and sticking it with a sticky tape and the decorations are made with colour pens, spray paints and stencils.
Have a wonderful celebration! ENJOY!
This was our lunch menu for last weekend. It came out very tasty... especially, the chilli - tangerine rice. The sweet and sour taste of tangerine adds a kick to the recipe. A perfect combination with methi koftas. Try it out!
Methi Koftas
For Koftas:
Ingredients:
- Fresh Methi leaves - 1 small bunch
- Gram flour - 1 cup
- Ajwain seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
- Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
- Garam masala ( if preferred)
- Curd - 1/2 cup
- Scallions (green onions) - 1 bunch
- Salt
- Oil
How to make it:
Wash methi leaves thoroughly in water. Chop scallions finely, heat oil in a kadai and fry until golden brown and keep aside. In a bowl add gram flour, chilli powder, curd, salt and little water if required. Mix it well. Heat oil in a pan, add ajwain seeds and methi leaves. Saute for a while. Add the flour and mix on low flame until the water dries off. Allow it to cool for a while. Make balls out of it and deep fry in oil until golden brown.
For Gravy:
Ingredients:
- Onions - 1 big size
- Tomato - 1
- Tomato paste - 1 tbsp
- Ginger - 1 inch
- Red chillies - 3
- Corriander powder - 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
- Elaichi- 2
- Bay leaves - 1 or 2
- Cloves - 2
- Butter - 1 tsp
- Sugar - 1/2 tsp
- Oil
- Salt
How to make it:
Grind all the above except bay leaves into a paste with little water. Heat oil and butter in a kadai, add bay leaves and the ground paste and saute until oil separates. Add Koftas before serving and garnish with corriander leaves, fried scallions and little curd or cream .
Chilli - Tangerine rice:
Ingredients:
- Basmati rice - 2 cups
- Onions - 2 medium size
- Peas - 1/2 cup
- Chopped carrots and beans - 2 cups
- Green chillies- 4
- Garlic - 5 pieces
- Elaichi - 3
- Cloves - 4
- Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
- Jeera - 1 tsp
- Tangerine juice - 1/2 cup
- Corriander leaves
- Bay leaves
- Cashews
- Salt - as required
How to make it:
Cook rice with little salt. Allow it to cool by spreading on a plate. Grind green chillies, garlic, elaichi and cloves into a paste. Chop onions finely. Steam cook carrots, beans and peas. Heat oil in a pan, add bay leaves, fennel seeds and jeera. Add cut onions and fry for 2 minutes. Add chilli garlic paste and saute until raw smell of garlic is gone. Add the steamed vegetables and fry for a while. Add cooked rice and salt and mix it thoroughly on low flame by adding tangerine juice. Garnish with corriander leaves and fried cashews.
