Chandrabhaga

Bahara Baingan

2010-12-07T10:47:00.004-05:00

Ingredients:

Indian Eggplant - 4 or 5
Onion - 1 big, finely chopped
Tomato - 1 small, finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
Tamarind - a Gooseberry size, soaked in warm water
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Jaggery (Powdered) - 1 tsp, if preferred
Cilantro - to garnish
Salt - as required
Curry leaves - few
Oil - as required

Dry roast and grind into a paste:

Corriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Fennel - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 2 or 3
Peanuts - a fistful
Coconut - 2 tbsp shredded
Channa dal - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Slit open the bottom portion of eggplants like "X" until 1/2 inch left near stem. Do not take out the top portion. Stuff the eggplants with the ground paste. Heat oil in a fry pan and shallow fry the eggplants on low flame until done. Cook the eggplants evenly on all sides. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add onions and curry leaves and cook until onion turns light brown. Add ginger garlic paste and saute until raw smell goes. Add tomatoes and cook until it becomes soft. Add tamarind juice, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt and bring it to a boil. Add the Stuffed eggplants and any remaining ground paste. Cook until oil separates. Finish off with jaggery (in case, if the dish is too hot). Add chopped cilantro. Serve hot with rotis and rice.

Beet Greens and Carrot Curry

2010-11-17T10:56:00.004-05:00

Beet bunch (Beet root with greens) is always a must buy item in my shopping list, whenever I visit the Farm Market. My farm market has them always fresh, that I buy beet root as a bunch and not loose. Apart from making curries and gravies using beet root, I also use the Beet greens in my dishes. I usually add beet greens with spinach in most of my cooking. This time I tried making this curry and believe me it was so good. Especially, adding black pepper to the curry gave a very good taste!

Coming to the recipe,

Ingredients:

Beet Greens - 1 bunch
Carrots - 3
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch

Dry roast and grind:

Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Corriander seeds - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 2 or 3

How to make it:

Wash and chop beet greens. Chop carrots into small pieces. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dal. Add carrots and cook until carrots are half done. Add the chopped beet greens, asafoetida and salt. Cook for 2 mins. Sprinkle some water if required. Add the ground powder and mix well.

Happy Diwali 2010

2010-11-04T15:53:00.005-04:00

I wish all the visitors of Chandrabhaga, A VERY COLORFUL, JOYFUL AND WONDERFUL DIWALI. May the year ahead be as "Sweet" as the Sweets, as "Bright" as the Lights and as "Cheerful" as the Crispy snacks. Have a wonderful celebration!

Coming to the recipes, this year I made Badusha and Boondi laddu for Sweets, and Murukku and Thattai for Snacks.

Badusha

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 2 cups
Butter - 1 stick (8 tbsp), softened
Baking Soda - A pinch
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Cardamom - 2 or 3 crushed
Saffron - A pinch
Oil- for frying

How to make it:

Sieve the flour. Add the baking soda and mix well. Add the softened butter and knead for about 7-10 minutes, into a firm dough. Keep Covered for about 10 minutes. Mean while, make sugar syrup with little water to one-thread consistency. Add cardamom powder and saffron. Now, make small balls out of the dough. Press slightly to make a round shape. Make a small impression in the center and deep fry few at a time in hot oil on low flame. Cook on both sides evenly until it turns light brown. Drain oil and dip in sugar syrup for about 2-3 minutes. Let it cool on a wax paper.

Boondi Laddu

Ingredients:

Besan Flour - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 2 cups
Cloves - about 6, crushed
Cashews - Few, broken
Diamond Kalkandu ( white rock sugar)- 2 tbsp
Pachai karpooram (Raw Camphor) - a pinch
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Mix besan and rice flour with water and make into a pourable consistency. Heat oil in a pan, hold the ladle with small holes over the oil, pour the batter one ladle at a time. Fry boondi until done and take on to a paper towel and drain excess oil. Make sugar syrup to one-thread consistency. In a pan, fry cashews in little ghee. Pour the sugar syrup over the boondi in a big bowl and mix well. Add the crushed cloves, fried cashews and mix well. When it is slightly warm add the raw camphor and white rock sugar. Mix well. Grease hand with ghee and make balls out of it.

Thattai

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 2 cups
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Green chillies - 5
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil- for frying

How to make it:

Soak moong dal in water for about 15 minutes. Drain. Grind green chillies into a paste. Mix rice flour, moong dal, Green chilli paste, red chilli powder, salt and asafoetida together. Add water little by little and make into a dough. Grease a plastic cover with oil, Take small balls of dough and press to make a round shape. Drop on to hot oil and fry until golden brown. Drain excess oil. Let it cool and store in an air tight container.

Check out my other recipes for thattai here and here

Murukku

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 1/2 cups
Urad flour - 1 tbsp
Green chilli paste - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder -1 tsp
Salt - as required
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Ajwain seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Mix all the above together with water and make a soft dough. Heat oil in a broad pan, using a murukku press make 4 or 5 murukku at a time over the oil and fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain excess oil and store in an air tight container.

Nachos

2010-06-30T15:48:00.004-04:00

Ingredients:

Tortilla chips
Refried Beans - 1 can
Salsa con queso (salsa with cheese) - 1 small jar
Hot sauce - to drizzle
Shredded Lettuce
Chopped Tomatoes

How to make it:
Take a plate or bowl. Spread the tortilla chips. (My chips had a hint of lime. Absolutely... extra tasty!) Heat beans in microwave or stove top. Squeeze the beans on top of the chips. Add cheese salsa and hot sauce (Frank's red hot sauce). Slightly Warm in microwave. Top with shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes. Serve!
Very easy to make and sure is delectable!

Buitoni Frozen ( ?? Really!! ) Meals for Two

2010-06-25T11:26:00.005-04:00

As a part of the Foodbuzz taste maker programme, Foodbuzz and Buitoni sent me a Coupon good for one "Buitoni Frozen Meal for Two". Being a vegetarian I wasn't sure if Buitoni has any vegetarian options. I went to the store and looked in the frozen foods aisle and to my surprise, i found something Vegetarian - "Four Cheese and Spinach Ravioli with Tomato Basil Sauce". As usual, checked for the ingredients and bought home. The next day being Father's day, my son made a cute photo collage for his dad and asked my help to prepare something special to celebrate the day!

So, i made these raviolis that day and believe me.... it did not taste like Frozen Food!! They were so soft, well cooked in less time and was tasting gr8! It was so convenient and easy to prepare in less time and most of all made the dinner complete! Awesome, Isn't it??

Raviolis are the kind that i never make at home, but would love to eat at restaurants! I have tried other Store bought Frozen Raviolis before and none tasted good like the one we get in restaurants!

This Buitoni box had not just the raviolis but also a pouch (yes!, a food-safe plastic pouch) of yummy tomato-basil sauce to go with the raviolis. So, it is zero preparation time and just about 10 minutes of cooking time. I baked some store bought veggie nuggets to go along with this ravioli. And, i was so happy.... i had less time cooking and more time to spend with family and so my Son!
I cooked the raviolis as per the package instructions and tossed them with the sauce. (Next time shopping, i gotta look for this tomato basil sauce from Buitoni if it is available in a jar.... the taste was awesome!)

Next, gotta try Buitoni's Five Cheese Cannelloni with Tomato Basil Sauce!!
These definitely make a quick, easy and tasty meal!

Would be nice if they can introduce more Vegetarian options in Lasagna and other pasta varieties!!

Thank you Foodbuzz and Buitoni for giving me a wonderful opportunity trying this Buitoni product! Love it!

Vathal Kuzhambhu

2010-06-16T10:47:00.006-04:00

Vathal (Origin: Tamil) means any sort of Sun-dried veggies and Kuzhambhu (Origin: Tamil) means Gravy. Usually, as the name says, Vathal kuzhambhu is made either with sun-dried veggies or with onions. But, here i made it as a combination of Onions and Vathal in a spicy tamarind gravy.

Ingredients:

Sundakkai Vathal (Dried Turkey Berry) - 1/4 cup
Tamarind - Lemon size ball
Small onions - 1 cup, peeled
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp extra hot or 2 tsp mild-medium hot.
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Dried Red chillies - 2 or 3
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 1/4 cup
Onion Vadagams - few, fried
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Rice flour - 1 tsp (optional)

How to make it:

Soak tamarind in 2-3 cups of warm water and mash well. Extract the pulp in a bowl. Add chilli powder, sambar powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida and salt. Mix well. Heat oil in a deep bottom pan, add red chillies and mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dal and channa dal. Add onions and fry for a while. Add the vathal and fry until it turns brown. Add the tamarind pulp and mix well. Add sugar and let it boil on low flame until oil separates. Add curry leaves and the fried onion vadagams. For a thicker gravy, add rice flour mixed with little water and let it cook on medium heat for 2 more minutes. Serve hot with rice along with fried papad or potato fry (Click Here and here for recipe) to make it a beautiful combo. Add a tbsp of gingelly oil, if preferred! Enjoy!

Thattai Delight

2010-06-07T14:29:00.006-04:00

This is my Husband's recipe and he always says a big story about this snack that he enjoyed during his school days. He also says that the name of this snack is Thattuvada.. Which i never heard of. So i named it Thattai Delight! Do anybody know about this?

Ingredients:

Thattai - about 20
Beetroot - 1/4 cup, shredded
Carrot -1/4 cup, shredded
Onion - 1/4 cup, shredded
Cilantro - few, chopped
Salt - to taste
Coconut oil - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Amchur powder - 1/4 tsp

For chutney

Mint- few leaves
Cilantro - few
Green chillies - 2
Dates - 3 or 4, seedless
Salt - a pinch

How to make it:

Both home-made thattai as well as store bought thattai can be used for making this evening snack. You can find the recipe for thattai here. Arrange thattai in a plate. In a bowl, mix onions, beetroot and carrot. Add salt, chilli powder and amchur powder. Add coconut oil and cilantro and mix well. Make thick mint chutney and keep it ready in a separate bowl. Take a tbsp of veggies and place it over the thattai. Do it for all the thattais. Add a little of mint chutney on top of it and cover it with another thattai. Take a bite and see how the plate goes empty in front of your eyes.... Enjoy!

Update: Thank you Lata Ji for telling me about "His cooking Event" by Priti. I'm sending this recipe to her right away... :)

Spaghetti with Spinach and Asparagus Sauce

2010-04-19T14:11:00.006-04:00

Ingredients:

Spaghetti - 1/2 box
Asparagus - 7 or 8 stems
Spinach - handful
Onion - 1, sliced thinly
Garlic - 3-4 cloves
Red chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp
Italian seasoning (oregano, basil and thyme) - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Parmesan cheese - 1 tbsp
Monetary jack cheese with Jalapeno pepper - 1/4 cup
Mozzarella cheese - 1/8 cup, shredded
Salt - to taste

How to make it:
Cook spaghetti al dente with little salt. Wash in cold water. Drain the water completely. Set aside.
Cut asparagus into 1 inch pieces. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add the asparagus and saute on high flame. Add a dash of salt. Cook until it softens. Let it cool. Grind half of the asparagus with spinach and garlic cloves into a paste. Heat oil in a pan, add onions and fry until light brown. Add the ground paste and cook until raw smell goes. Add seasoning, red chilli flakes and the remaining asparagus. Add little salt. Add the cooked spaghetti. Mix well. Add monetary jack cheese and mozzarella cheese and fold it well. Serve hot with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Methi Kofta and Potato Pulav

2010-04-08T08:10:00.005-04:00

I made this pulav over the weekend. The ingredients list may be too long with a little more work than making the regular rice varieties, but the pulav came out so spicy and the taste was awesome. This time when i went for grocery shopping, i picked those potatoes, that are little bigger than the baby potatoes. So, after boiling, i cut the potatoes into two and used in the recipe. If you really wanna try something hot and spicy.... Try this pulav!!

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Onion - 1 big, chopped
Potatoes - 6 or 8 small ones, boiled
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - 2 tbsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Fennel - 1/2 tsp
Cilantro - to garnish

To Grind

Ingredients:

Corriander seeds - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 3 or 4
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Fennel - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 2 or 3
Star anise - a small piece
Coconut - 1/2 cup

Slightly roast all the above ingredients in a dry pan and grind into a paste.

For Koftas

Ingredients:

Methi - 1 cup, chopped
Besan - 2 tbsp
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Ajwain - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Onion - 1/2 cup chopped
Oil - for frying

How to make it:
Mix all the ingredients together with little water and make a soft dough. Roll small balls out of the dough and deep fry in oil until golden brown.

To make pulav:

Cook rice and let it cool. Boil potatoes until just done. Cube them if not using baby potatoes. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin, fennel and onions and fry until onion turns light brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry until raw smell goes. Add the ground paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Add little water if required. Cook on low flame until oil separates. Drop the potatoes and cook for 2 more minutes. Add koftas and switch off the flame. Keep the pan tightly covered with a lid, for about 10-15 minutes. On a very low flame, add rice and mix well. Be careful not to break the koftas. Garnish with Cilantro. Serve hot with Chips and Onion raita!

Easy Ladoos with Health Mix

2010-03-30T14:26:00.005-04:00

When i saw these at Malar's place sometime back, I remembered my childhood days when my mom used to make these kind of ladoos. Those were the days..... we used to run if mom gives these kind of stuffs for us to eat, along with a big lecture to make us believe it is healthy (Just like what i'm doing with my kid now!! :D). Now, i would say this is one kind of the yummiest!

The health mix, as the name says, is the mixture of many healthy ingredients such as ragi, bajra, maize, jower, wheat, fried gram, rice, green gram, barley, sago, cardamom, soya, cashews and almonds.
I had some packets of Manna Health Mix in my pantry, which i use less often for making Kanji. So, i made these ladoos with lot of nice flavours in it. The result was Awesome! The ladoos came out so yummy and was gone in minutes.

Here is the recipe...

Mom's recipe - Mix together Health mix, powdered jaggery, shredded coconut and cardamom powder together. Sprinkle water or milk and make balls out of it.

My version is here--

Ingredients:

Manna health mix - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Honey - 1 tbsp
Coconut milk powder - 1 tbsp
MTR Badam mix - 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Sliced almonds, Raisins, craisins, chopped dates - 1/2 cup
Milk or water - as required

How to make it:
Mix all the ingredients together. Sprinkle little water or milk and make equally sized balls out of it.

Mango Rice

2010-03-25T15:04:00.004-04:00

Sri Rama Navami is a Hindu festival celebrating the Birth of Lord Rama. On this day, Kalyanotsavam is performed at temples and the deities are taken to a procession on streets. At some places it is more elaborate with Bhajans, Kirtans, Puja and Aarthi followed by the distribution of Prasad. On this day, Followers of Lord Rama fast or restrict themselves to a specific diet. The special neivedyam for the day is Panakam and Neermor (Butter milk).
Source: Wiki

This time for Sri Rama Navami, I made some Mango rice along with some Panakam and Neer mor for Neivedyam.

Mango Rice

Ingredients:

Mango - 1, medium size
Rice - 1 cup
Green chillies - 4 or 5
Curry leaves - few
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - 1 tbsp

How to make it:
Cook rice with just enough water. Peel the skin of an unripe mango and shred. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dal and channa dal. Add the curry leaves and green chillies. Fry for a while and then add the shredded mango, turmeric powder and salt. Saute for a while and then add the cooked rice. Mix well.

Panakam

Ingredients:

Water - 2 cups
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Cardamom - 2 crushed

How to make it:
Dissolve Jaggery in little water and dilute as required. Add crushed cardamom and mix well. Let it stand for sometime until the cardamom looses the flavour in water.

Neer mor (Butter milk)

Ingredients:

Thick home made yogurt - 1 cup
Ginger - 1 tsp, shredded
Cilantro - few, chopped
Hing - a pinch
Green chillies - 1 or 2, chopped finely (if preferred)
Salt - as required

How to make it:
Beat the yogurt until there are no lumps. Add enough water to dilute. Add ginger, green chillies, hing, cilantro and little salt. Mix well.

Samosa

2010-03-17T12:40:00.004-04:00

Being a favorite for many (including me), who can say 'NO' to a plate of samosa with some tomato ketchup on the size? Will you??

For the Dough

Ingredients:

Flour - 1 cup
Sooji/ Rava - 1 tbsp
Corn flour - 1 tsp
Ajwain seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Water - for kneading
Oil -1 tsp

How to make it:

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add water and knead into a soft dough, for about 5 minutes. Apply some oil and let it stand covered for sometime.

For the Filling

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 big, boiled and cubed
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Green chillies - 1 or 2, chopped
Peas - 1/4 cup, cooked
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Cilantro - few, chopped
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add cumin, onion, green chillies and fry until onion turns light brown. Add the cooked peas and fry for a while. Add red chilli powder, corriander powder and garam masala. Add potatoes and salt. Mash potatoes slightly (not all of them). Add some chopped cilantro. Mix well.

To make samosas

Make evenly sized balls out of the dough. Roll flat into a round shape. Cut into semi-circle with a Knife. Take one semi circle at a time. Apply water along the cut edge and fold into a cone. Hold it between your thumb and index finger just like holding an ice-cream cone. Add the potato filling inside the cone. Fold and seal the ends by applying little water. Deep fry in oil until golden brown. Serve hot with tomato ketchup!

Tip:
For crispier samosas, keep the un-fried, filled samosas in refrigerator for at least an hour or two.

Idiyappam and Plantain-Tapioca Stew

2010-03-12T13:08:00.004-05:00

Idiyappam (String hoppers) is one of the easiest dish to make. Nowadays, we get idiyappam flour in most of the stores, that can be used instantly. Even the regular rice flour will do good, if you know the tactics of how to make the dough, without any lumps. It needs an extra effort than the one prepared with idiyappam flour.
To make Idiyappam flour, soak raw rice in water for about 3 hours. Drain the water and dry the rice in a cloth. Grind into a fine powder and sieve. Let it dry in sunlight for a day. Yes! it is a long process... But, if made in large quantities, the flour can be stored for a long time and it comes handy to make idiyappams anytime. Never i tried making the flour though! This was prepared at home, back in India and i always bring some whenever i make a trip to India. To know more about Idiyappams and how to make it, Visit here.

Idiyappam

Ingredients:

Rice flour/ Idiyappam flour - 2 cups
Water - 4 cups
Oil -1 tbsp
Salt - as required

How to make it:
Dry roast the flour on a medium flame in an un-oiled pan until it is warm. Add little salt. Be careful not to turn it brown. Add Boiling water about 2 cups first (keep stirring continuously), and then the remaining water until it forms a dough. Add a tbsp of oil to get a ball of well cooked unsticky dough. Switch off the flame. When it is still warm, take a ball of the dough in idiyappam maker and press onto a greased idli plate and steam cook for about 7-10 minutes.

Plantain- Tapioca Stew

Ingredients:

Plantain - 1 medium
Tapioca - 1 small
Potato - 2
Onion - 1 big, chopped
Tomato - 1, chopped
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Cashew paste - 2 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Fennel - 1/2 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 2 or 3, crushed
Cardamom - 2 or 3, crushed
Bay leaf - 1
Curry leaves - few
Green chillies -2, slit
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Rice flour - 1 tbsp (optional)
Fresh home made yogurt - 1/4 cup
Cilantro - to garnish
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - as required

How to make it:
Wash tapioca in running hot water to remove the wax coating. Pressure cook potatoes, plantain and tapioca with the skin. Once done, remove the skin and cube them. Heat oil in a pan, add fennel, cumin, bay leaf, cloves and cardamom. When it sizzles, add onions, green chillies, curry leaves and ginger-garlic paste. Fry until the raw smell goes off. Add tomatoes and fry for a while. Add the cubed veggies, salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder and cook for a minute. Add coconut milk and cook covered until all flavours mix well. Add little water if required. Add cashew paste. (Use rice flour to thicken the gravy if it is watery). Cook until the stew thickens. Add yogurt and mix well. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with Idiyappams.

The stew recipe here is my own Idea, so I'm sending this to Srilekha for her Submit your recipes! page.

Gujarati Thali

2010-03-03T12:07:00.008-05:00

Gujarati Cuisine is primarily Vegetarian. A typical thali consists of Roti/ poori, Dhal, Kadhi, Shaak (vegetables), Farsan (Appetizers), Mithai (sweets), Home made pickles and Chaas (Butter milk). Most of the preparation consists of a small amount of sugar/ jaggery added as an ingredient, which makes the dish kind of sweet to taste. Though not much elaborate, i made this Gujarati thali last week for an occasion at home. It is always wonderful to learn other cuisines and try different kinds of food. Got these recipe ideas from a Gujarati friend of mine and also from here, modified to my taste!! :) The amount of ingredients given below serves 2-3 people.

Menu:

Besan Ladoo
Tindora and Hyacinth beans fry
Peas potato baaji
Dhal
Cucumber raita
Chaas
Poori
Rice and
Fried green chillies

Besan Ladoo

Ingredients:

Besan / Gram flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 to 1 cup
Fine sooji/ Rava - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 1/3 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Cloves - 4, crushed
Almonds - 2 tbsp, silvered
Cashews - to decorate

How to make it:

Dry roast besan and rava on low heat for few minutes. Add ghee and mix well until the besan absorbs all ghee, for about 5 minutes. Switch off the flame. Add cardamom powder, cloves and almonds. When the besan is still warm, add the sugar and mix well. Make evenly sized balls. Decorate with roasted cashews. Stiffens as it cools. Makes about 12 balls.

Tindora and Hyacinth beans fry (Shaak)

Ingredients:

Tindora - 1 cup, cut lengthwise
Hyacinth beans - 1/2 cup, chopped
Onion - 1, chopped
Tomato - 1/2 cup, chopped
Cloves - 2
Cardamom - 2 crushed
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - 1/2 tsp, shredded
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Dhania -jeera powder - 1 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Salt - as required
Besan/ gram flour - 1 tsp
Cilantro - to garnish

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add cloves, cardamom, fennel and cumin. When it sizzles, add ginger and onions and fry until onion turns translucent. Add all the powders mentioned in the ingredients, except salt. Fry for a while. Add tomatoes, tindora, hyacinth beans and salt. The water from tomatoes must be sufficient to cook the veggies. Cook covered on low-medium heat until done. Sprinkle 1 tsp of besan and mix well. Garnish with cilantro.

Peas-potato baaji

Ingredients:

Potato - 2, boiled
Peas - 1/2 cup, cooked
Onion - 1, chopped
Tomato - 1, chopped
Cloves - 2
Cardamom - 2, crushed
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Fennel - 1/2 tsp
Green chillies - 3 or 4
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Besan/ gram flour - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Cilantro - to garnish

How to make it:

Heat oil + ghee in a pan. Add cloves, cardamom, fennel and cinnamon. When it sizzles, add green chillies and onions and fry until onion turns light brown. Add tomatoes and cook until tomatoes become soft. Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and corriander powder. Add boiled and cubed potatoes, cooked peas and fry for a while. Add 1 1/2 cups water and salt. Cook covered for about 5 minutes. Add besan mixed with little water to thicken the gravy. Cook until thick. Garnish with cilantro.

Dhal

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Tomatoes - 1, chopped
Ginger- chilli paste - 1 tsp
Peanuts - 1/4 cup, roasted
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - a small piece
Bay leaf - 1
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Salt - as required
Jaggery - a small piece , if preferred
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Curry leaves - few, to garnish
Cilantro - to garnish
Oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 2 tsp

How to make it:

Pressure cook toor dal with enough water. Mash the dal well. Heat oil + ghee in a pan, add bay leaf, cloves, cumin and cinnamon. When it sizzles add tomatoes and hing. Cook until tomatoes becomes soft. Add ginger-chilli paste and saute for a while. Add Peanuts, cooked toor dal, salt, jaggery and turmeric powder. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Garnish with curry leaves and cilantro. Add a squeeze of lemon.

Cucumber raita

Ingredients:

Fresh home made yogurt - 1 cup
Cucumber - 1, peeled and shredded
Salt - as required
Cilantro - 1 tsp, chopped

How to make it:

Beat the yogurt well. Add cucumber, salt and cilantro. Mix well.

Chaas

Ingredients:

Fresh Home made yogurt - 1 cup
Cilantro - 1 tsp, finely chopped
Green chillies - 1, finely chopped (if preferred)
Hing - a pinch
Salt - as required
Ginger - 1/2 tsp, shredded

How to make it:

Beat the yogurt well. Dilute with 1 to 1 1/2 cups water.Add finely chopped cilantro, green chillies and ginger. Add salt and hing. Mix well. Serve chilled.

Poori

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 cup
Salt - as required
Water - to knead
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Knead the dough by adding salt and water. Add 1 tsp of oil while kneading to get a soft dough. Make balls out of the dough. Roll each ball into small round shape and fry in oil until it puffs up and becomes light brown.

Rice

Cook rice with cloves and cardamom for a wonderful aroma....

Fried chillies

Ingredients:

Green chillies - 7-8 nos.
Besan flour - 1 tbsp
Hing - a pinch
Salt - as required
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Mix besan, salt and hing. Add wet green chillies and mix well so that the chillies are nicely coated with flour. Deep fry in oil.

Looking for other Indian regional Cuisines?
Here is the full course meal of Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Rajasthan

Milagu Aval and Rava Kesari for Ekadasi

2010-02-23T10:25:00.005-05:00

These are the dishes made for Ekadasi this time.. Though we don't follow strict fasting, we do fast for the day with very little food. The fasting always ends with ekadasi prasadam (no onion- no garlic dish. Rice, beans, grains and certain spices are not included).
For my other posts related to ekadasi - visit here and here.

Milagu Aval

Ingredients:

Aval/Poha/Rice flakes - 1 cup
Pepper - 3 tbsp, finely ground
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - few
Cashews - few

How to make it:

Soak poha in water for about 10 minutes. Squeeze the poha to drain out water. Heat ghee in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dal and fry until it turns light brown. Add cashews, cumin, pepper powder and curry leaves. Add poha and salt. Mix well.

Rava Kesari

Ingredients:

Rava/ sooji - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 1/4 cups
Water - about 1 1/2 cups
Cashews - few
Raisins - few
Ghee - 1/3 to 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Camphor - a pinch
Orange food colour - a pinch

How to make it:

Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pan and fry Rava until it looks crisp. Be careful not to turn it brown. Add the water and cook rava. Add sugar and food colour (dissolved in little water, to spread easily). Cook on medium heat, mixing well and adding ghee little by little. Add cardamom powder and cashews and raisins fried in ghee. Add a pinch of camphor. Mix well until done. The amount of sugar mentioned above is optimal. Add 1/4 cup more sugar if required.

Ven Pongal and a Wonderful Combo!

2010-02-15T14:40:00.004-05:00

Whenever i make ven pongal at home, it is always a must to make some vadas to make it a satisfying meal. Also, it is one of the best and lovely combo, i can say!

Ven pongal

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Moong dal - 3/4 cup
Ghee - 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Ginger - 1 tbsp, shredded
Curry leaves - few
Whole black pepper - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Cashews - few
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Dry roast moong dal slightly. Pressure cook together with rice, turmeric powder and enough water. Heat ghee in a deep bottom pan, add the cashews, curry leaves, ginger, pepper and cumin and fry for a while. ( Use whole black pepper and cumin directly or make a coarse powder before adding ). Add the cooked rice dal mixture and salt and mix well on a low flame. Serve hot with a dollop of ghee on top.

Coconut chutney

Ingredients:

Shredded coconut - 3/4 cup
Roasted gram /pottu kadalai/ Chutney dal - 4 tbsp
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Curry leaves - few
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 1 or 2
Tamarind - a little
Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt - as required
Oil - 1 tbsp

How to make it:

Grind coconut, roasted gram, green chillies and tamarind with salt and water into a thick paste. Do the seasoning with the remaining ingredients and pour over the chutney.

Onion vada

I have already posted the recipe for medhu vada here.

Onion vada - To the medhu vada batter, add some finely chopped onions and cilanto leaves and make vadas.
Cabbage vada - To the medhu vada batter, add finely chopped cabbage and make vadas.

I am sending this wonderful combo to "The Combo Event" going on at Foodelicious.
I am also sending my Adai Avial combo for this event.

Potato Dry Curry

2010-02-08T15:28:00.004-05:00

This is a mild to medium spicy curry and yet very tasty! Good as a side dish for rice and rotis.

Ingredients:

Boiled potatoes - 3, medium size
Onion - 1 big, chopped
Tomato - 1, finely chopped
Garlic - 2 crushed or 1 tsp garlic paste
Dhania- jeera powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Crushed red pepper - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 2 slit
Curry leaves - few
Cashews - few
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Oil- 2 tbsp

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add cumin, fennel seeds, cashews, green chillies, curry leaves, and onions and fry until onion becomes translucent. Add garlic paste, red chilli flakes, turmeric powder, dhania-jeera powder and fry for a while. Add tomatoes and cook until it becomes soft. Add potato, salt and cook until nice golden brown. Add a tsp of corn flour, if you need a crispy finish.

Paneer Butter Masala

2010-02-02T09:54:00.004-05:00

I would always call this a Royal dish.. because of the aromatic flavours of spices blended nicely in a rich and creamy gravy. This goes good with any kind of bread or Rice.

Ingredients:

Paneer (Cottage cheese) - 1 cup cubed
Onion - 1 big, chopped
Tomatoes - 2 medium, pureed
Cashews - 8-10 whole
Almonds - 5-6 blanched
Ginger - 1 tbsp, shredded
Cardamom - 4 nos., crushed
Cloves - 2 nos., crushed
Bay leaf - 1
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (if preferred)
Cilantro - to garnish
Butter - about 3 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Heat little butter in a pan, add the cashews, almonds and onions and fry until onion becomes translucent. Let it cool and then grind into a paste. Fry paneer in oil until golden brown. Set aside. Heat oil and butter in a pan, add bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon and ginger. Add the garam masala and corriander powder and fry for a while. Add the onion paste and fry until oil separates. Add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, 1/2 cup water and salt. Add the tomato puree and cook until the oil separates and the gravy is thick. Add the fried paneer and cook not more than a minute. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with your choice of bread or rice.
I had about half a cup of left over cooked peas that i did not want to waste. So tossed them into the gravy while cooking. Also, see here for how to make paneer at home.

Thayir Vada (Dahi Vada)

2010-01-25T10:39:00.003-05:00

Ingredients:

Urad dhal - 3/4 cup
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger - 1 tsp, shredded
Dry red chillies - 2 or 3
Green chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Cilantro - 1 tbsp, chopped
Salt - as required
Oil - for frying

For Soaking:

Fresh home made thick Yogurt - 1 cup
Salt - a pinch
Ginger- green chilli paste - 1 tsp
Cilantro paste - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - to garnish
Chat Masala - to garnish
Cilantro - chopped, to garnish

How to make it:

Soak urad dhal in water for about 2 to 3 hours. Grind with asafoetida, salt, ginger and chillies. The batter should be soft and thick. Sprinkle little water if needed while grinding. Add curry leaves and cilantro. Mix well. Take the batter and make into vada shape and deep fry in oil until light brown. Visit my medhu vada post for a detailed instruction of how to get vada shape.
In a bowl, mix yogurt, salt, ginger-chilli paste and cilantro paste. Soak the fried vada in the yogurt and let it stand for about 10 minutes. Take the vadas out carefully and arrange on a plate. Add the rest of the yogurt over the vadas.Sprinkle some red chilli powder and chat masala (if preferred). Garnish with cilantro. Serve.

Easy pizza using Pillsbury Grands Refrigerated Biscuits

2009-12-14T09:48:00.004-05:00

Inspired from the Pillsbury calender, This is a very easy to make recipe and kid's just love it! Ready in just 15 minutes, it makes a great after school snack! I tried this recipe using Pillsbury Grands Flaky layers original Biscuits and Home style Buttermilk biscuits. Both came out tasty! Visit Pillsbury for money saving coupons.

Ingredients:

Pillsbury grands biscuits (refrigerated) - 1 roll, ready to bake
Marinara sauce (store bought)
Cut veggies (Onions, bell peppers)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Crushed red pepper - to sprinkle (optional)
Italian seasoning - to sprinkle

How to make it:

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Pop open the Pillsbury grands biscuits can. Separate the Biscuits. Arrange on a greased cookie sheet and slightly flatten. Apply some marinara sauce, add the veggies of your choice, add the mozzarella cheese and bake for about 12-14 minutes. Sprinkle some crushed red pepper and Italian seasoning if preferred.

A simple meal idea!

2009-11-18T10:10:00.003-05:00

Here is a simple meal idea for a difference from the usual. :) pulkas with bell pepper sabji, aloo poha and a cup of fresh home-made yogurt. When made without garlic and onions this is a wonderful meal for fasting on ekadasi or any other days.

Aloo Poha

Ingredients:

Poha (Rice flakes) - 1 cup
Potato - 1, peeled and finely chopped
Onion - 1 , finely chopped
Green chillies - 3 or 4, slit
Roasted peanuts - 1/2 cup
Ginger - 1 tsp, shredded
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Corriander leaves - to garnish
Curry leaves - few
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

How to make it:

Soak poha in water for about 10 minutes. Squeeze to drain the water. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. when it splutters, add urad dhal, onions, green chillies, ginger and curry leaves. Fry until onion turns translucent. Add the potatoes, turmeric powder, salt and asafoetida and cook until potato is well cooked. Add the peanuts. Add the poha and mix well on low flame. Garnish with corriander leaves. Switch off the flame. Close the pan with a tight lid and let it stand until ready to be served. (The poha becomes dry if kept open!)

Pulkas

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 2 cups
Water - to knead,as required
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tsp

How to make it:

Mix salt and flour. Add water little by little and make a soft dough. Add oil and knead for one more time. Apply little more oil on dough and set aside for about 3 hours. Make small balls out of the dough and press flat with a rolling pin. Heat a tava, spread the rolled dough and cook until it turns light brown on one side. It puffs up. Now cook the other side of the pulkas by directly showing it over the flame with the help of tongs. Apply some ghee on the pulkas and fold into four. Keep it in a hot pack layered with a thin cloth. Close tightly.

Bell pepper sabji

This is a simple sabji with no much spices or garam masala. But the taste is wonderful!

Ingredients:

Bell pepper - 1, medium size, chopped
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2, plum medium size, finely chopped
Red chillies - 2
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
salt - as required
oil- 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - to garnish

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dhal, red chillies and asafoetida. Add onions and fry until it turns light brown. Add the bell pepper and saute until half cooked. Add tomatoes, red chilli powder and salt. Cook for a while. Add 1/2 cup water and cook covered on low heat for about 10 minutes. Garnish with curry leaves.

Rasmalai and Mixture

2009-10-19T12:11:00.005-04:00

Hi all.... Hope you all had a wonderful Diwali Celebration. This time, its a Saturday so could celebrate with few gatherings. Made some Rasmalai and Mixture for Sweets and Snacks, decorated home with few lamps and colourful lights. No fire crackers though,.... follow state law!
Coming to the recipes,

Rasmalai

Ingredients:

Ricotta Cheese - 1 lb (at room temperature)
Whole milk - 7 or 8 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 to 2 cups
MTR Badam Mix - 4 tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Saffron - a big pinch

How to make it:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ricotta cheese and 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl. Fill a non-stick muffin pan with the cheese mixture , about 1 tbsp each. Bake for about 1/2 hour or until set. Tooth pick inserted should come out clean. Be careful not to over heat (Turns brown when over heated). Take out the cakes by inverting the muffin pan onto a cookie sheet. Let it cool.
Meanwhile, In a deep pan, add the milk and bring it to a boil. Let it boil in low flame for about 15 minutes. Add the remaining sugar, MTR mix and Cardamom powder. Boil until the milk becomes little thick. Garnish with saffron. Let it cool.
Drop the cakes carefully into the milk. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Mixture

Ingredients:

Besan flour - 2 cups
Rice flour - 1 cup
Rice flakes (Poha) - 3/4 cup
Peanuts - 1/2 cup
Cashews - 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2tsp + 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp
Butter - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Boondhi:
Heat oil in a deep pan. Mix 1 cup besan flour, 1/2 cup rice flour, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, salt, 1/2 tsp asafoetida with water. It should be in the consistency of a thick batter. Keeping the ladle with holes over the oil, pour little of the mixture and press with another ladle. This makes small round balls. Fry until it turns nice orange colour. Take onto a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Continue doing with the remaining batter.
Oma podi:
Mix 1 cup besan flour, 1/2 cup rice flour, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp butter, 1/2 tsp asafoetida and salt with little water. Make a soft dough. Take a ball of the dough into a Muruku press with slotted holes as base. Press lightly over the hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Take onto a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Crush the oma podi into small pieces.
Fry peanuts, rice flakes and cashew nuts in oil separately. Fry few curry leaves.
In a small bowl, make a mixture of red chilli powder, salt and asafoetida. In a large bowl, mix everything together. Store in an air tight container.

Getting creative with breads

2009-10-09T15:18:00.009-04:00

Last week there was a parcel at my doorstep and.... wondering what it would be, i picked up the package and found that it was from Foodbuzz (as a part of the taste maker programme with Nature's Pride bread)

It consisted of - a loaf of 12 Grain bread and a loaf of Whole wheat bread. I tried lot of recipes using these breads like sandwiches, crispy and spicy cuts with veggies and bread balls. These really are, a hit on the table! We simply loved it! As the name says, Nature's Pride breads are made with some of the finest natural ingredients and to be specific the whole wheat bread was just awesome! Never hesitate to try those varieties.

Coming to the recipe,

Bread Balls

Ingredients:

Nature's Pride whole wheat bread - 8 slices
Spinach - 1 cup chopped
Onions - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Jalapenos - 2 tsp, finely chopped
Pepper - a dash
Oregano - a dash
Crushed red peppers - if preferred, to taste ( just in case if u want it little spicy)
Mozzarella cheese - 4 oz shredded
Corn flour - 1 tbsp, made into a paste with little water
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

In a bowl, add spinach, onions, jalapenos, pepper, oregano, crushed red peppers and salt. Mix well. Remove the ends of the bread slices (save it for making bread crumbs). Dip the bread in a bowl of water and squeeze the water by keeping the bread between your palms. Now you have it in the consistency of a dough. Keep some spinach and cheese mixture in the center and cover it with the bread and make into balls. Dip in corn flour and deep fry in oil until it turns light brown. Shallow frying or baking is also a good option.

Serve hot with a sauce. I served with a chunky salsa, it was tasting wonderful!

Salsa

Ingredients:

Hunt's fire roasted diced tomatoes - 1/2 can
Onion - 1/4 cup, chopped
Bell pepper - 1/4 cup, chopped
Jalapeno - 1, finely chopped
Taco seasoning - 1/2 tsp
Lime juice - 1 tsp
Cilantro - 2 tbsp, chopped and to garnish
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, add bell peppers, jalapenos and onions and fry well. Let it cool. In a blender or food processor, add the fried peppers and onions, taco seasoning, salt, cilantro and half of the tomatoes. Pulse for just 2 or 3 times. Take onto a bowl. Add the remaining tomatoes and a squeeze of lime. Garnish with cilantro.

Veggies 'n Rice

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Onions - 1, finely chopped
Bell pepper - 1/2 cup, chopped lengthwise
Carrots,Beans, Peas - 1/2 cup chopped
Tomato paste - 1 1/2 tbsp
Garlic - 2 cloves, finely chopped
Jalapenos - 1, finely chopped
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Saffron - 1 big pinch
Salt - as required
Cilantro - to garnish
Mint - to garnish, if preferred
Oil - 2 to 3 tbsp
Water - required for cooking 1 cup rice (depends on the rice used)

How to make it:

Heat oil in a heavy bottom non-stick pan (the one with lid), add bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon. When it sizzles, add garlic, onions and jalapenos. Fry until onion becomes translucent. Add bell peppers, carrots, beans and peas. Add the tomato paste and saute. Now add rice and fry for a while. Add water and salt. Bring it to a boil. Add the saffron. Cover with lid and simmer heat for about 15 minutes or until done. Open the lid, mix it well. Garnish with cilantro and mint and close with the lid. Let it stand until serving.

This is the platter i served over the weekend. A happy and complete meal! Moreover its 100% vegetarian!

Baked bread with veggies

Ingredients:

Bread - 6 slices (3 nos. Nature's Pride 12 grain bread and 3 nos. Nature's pride Whole wheat bread)
Onion - 1, chopped
Bell peppers - 1 cup, chopped
Ginger - 1 tsp, shredded
Tomato paste - 1 1/2 tbsp
Green chilli - 1 , slit
Crushed red pepper - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Cilantro - to garnish
Oil - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp plus to spread
Salt - to taste

How to make it:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread butter on both sides of the bread. Cut into pieces. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Heat oil and butter in a pan, add fennel and cumin. When it sizzles, add onions, ginger and green chilli. Fry until onion becomes translucent. Add the bell peppers and saute until it gets half cooked. Add tomato paste, turmeric powder, red peppers, garam masala and salt. Saute well. Add the baked bread pieces and mix well until it gets nicely coated. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Back to blogging... With some sweets and snacks

2009-10-05T13:19:00.008-04:00

Hello All.... I'm back! Blogging after almost 3 months. The summer vacation is over!!! Before we could realise its a peak of summer, the weather turned cold :-(
We went to India for our vacation and had a very good time there. Now, back to routines !

Will catch up with all your blogposts and delicious recipes soon.

Coming to the recipe, these are the neivedyams i made for Saraswathy pooja. (Sorry! for the delayed post)
Parupu payasam, Both sweet and spicy whole moong sundal and medhu vadas. I have already posted my medhu vada recipe here.

Parupu Payasam

Ingredients:

Moong dal - 1/2 cup
Channa dal - 1/4 cup
Dark Brown sugar - 3/4 cup (or as per taste)
Cardamom - 3 or 4 crushed
Coconut milk powder - 1 tsp
Camphor - a pinch
Cashews - few
Ghee - 1 tsp

How to make it:

Cook moong and channa dal together until just done with water. Add the powdered brown sugar and mix it well. Let it boil until it becomes little thick. Add the cardamom powder and coconut milk powder. Add the cashews fried in little ghee and a pinch of camphor. Serve hot!

Sundal

Soak whole green moong dal overnight. Pressure cook until done.

Sweet sundal

Ingredients:

Whole green moong dal - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup
Cardamom - 2 or 3 crushed
Coconut - 2 tbsp, shredded
Cashews - few, fried in ghee

How to make it:

Dissolve brown sugar in water and bring it to a boil. Add the cooked whole moong, coconut and cardamom and cook until it becomes thick. Garnish with cashews fried in ghee.

Spicy sundal

Ingredients:

Whole green moong dal - 1/2 cup
Coconut - 2 tbsp, shredded
Dried red chillies - 2 or 3
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Asafoetida - a pinch
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Curry leaves - few

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add red chillies and urad dal. Add the moong, asafoetida, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Add shredded coconut and garnish with curry leaves.

Chakli / Murukku

2009-07-10T09:37:00.004-04:00

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 1/2 cups
Besan - 1/4 cup
Moong Flour - 1/4 cup
Urad Flour - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Ajwain seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Water - for kneading
Oil - for frying
Plastic sheet or wax paper

How to make it:

Dry roast moong dal until it turns light brown and grind into a fine powder. Dry roast rice flour and besan until warm ( do not over heat). Let it cool. Heat oil in a deep bottom pan. In a bowl, mix all the flour, chilli powder, salt, ajwain and asafoetida. Add water and knead into a soft dough. Add few tbsp of hot oil while kneading. This gives a crispier snack. Take a ball of dough and fill the mould with a single star plate. Lay a wax paper or a greased plastic sheet. Press the handle of the mould and slowly make the desired shape. Drop into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Take onto a paper towel to drain excess oil. You can even directly press the dough into the oil ( no proper shape in this case, but the taste is same :) ) Enjoy!

Lata Raja of Flavours and Tastes has awarded me with "One Lovely Blog" award... I feel flattered! Thanks Lata for passing me this beautiful award. I have updated that in my Index page.

Spinach Pizza

2009-07-01T11:05:00.006-04:00

24 hours a day is just not enough since, the summer holidays started! Having a kid at home and besides my regular routines, i have added few more activities like going to the park almost daily, planning play dates, making some art and craft activities etc., This is real fun not just for the kid but also for me.. :) So, I really don't find much time to blog now-a-days. I really miss a lot of wonderful posts from my friends and my bloglines has about 300 unread feeds. Will catch up with all that soon. :)

Coming to the post, Here is a delicious home made pizza. This is one of the easiest way to make a kid eat spinach :)

Ingredients:

All-Purpose Flour - 2 1/2 cups
Rapid rise yeast - 1/2 pkt
Luke warm water - for kneading
Salt - as required
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 5-6 tbsp
Marinara sauce - 1 cup
Shredded Mozzarella cheese - 2 cups
Toppings - Sliced Onion, Bell pepper and chopped Spinach
Crushed red pepper - (if preferred)

How to make it:

To a cup of luke warm water, add the yeast, 1/2 tsp sugar and a pinch of salt. Let it stand for about 5-10 minutes until the yeast forms a froth on top. In a bowl, Mix sifted flour and salt. Add the yeast water and enough luke warm water and mix well until it forms a soft dough. Start kneading by adding oil little by little for about 10 minutes. Cover and let sit in a warm place for 2-3 hours. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Take the dough on to a flat surface, and dusting with little flour, roll it flat. Grease a baking sheet and lay the rolled dough. Brush with oil. Spread the marinara sauce. Add the toppings and cheese and bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese melts and crust turns golden brown. Sprinkle some crushed red pepper and garlic powder if preferred.

The crust came out wonderful with a soft bread inside and little crispy outside.

Thattai and Spicy Peanuts

2009-06-26T10:16:00.005-04:00

Thattai

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 1/2 cups
Urad flour - 1 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Butter - 1 tbsp
Water- for kneading
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Peanuts - few, crushed
Curry leaves - few, torn into bits
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

In an un-oiled pan fry the rice flour until it becomes warm. This gives crispier snack. Do not overheat the flour (when over heated the flour turns brown). Let it cool. Soak the moong dal in water for about 30 minutes. Drain the water. Heat oil in a deep bottom pan. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients and make into a soft dough by adding the right amount of water. On a plastic sheet of paper, take a ball of the dough and press with hands and make it flat. Release the dough from the plastic sheet and drop in oil carefully. Fry on both sides until it turns golden brown. Take on to a paper towel and drain excess oil. This is an easy snack that can be made in batches.

Spicy Peanuts

Ingredients:

Unroasted Peanuts - 2 cups
Chilli powder - as required
Salt - as required
Curry leaves - few
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan. Fry peanuts. Drain excess oil by taking it on to a paper towel. In a bowl, add fried peanuts, chilli powder, salt and fried curry leaves. Mix well until peanuts are nicely coated. And look for the peanuts disappearing in front of your eyes :) Makes a great TV time snack!

Peach Upside Down Cake and a Milestone....

2009-06-17T09:45:00.006-04:00

I had a basket of peaches sitting idle and was looking to make something delicious out of it. I googled for peach recipes and i found this wonderful upside down cake here. Thank you Susan for this wonderful recipe!
The original recipe calls for a cup of vanilla soy milk and i replaced that with about 3/4 cup milk and 1/3 cup peach flavoured yogurt. Here is the recipe..

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Peach - 2, sliced
Milk - 3/4 cup
Yogurt - 1/3 cup (I used peach flavoured)
Sugar - 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup
Salt - a pinch
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Ginger - 1 inch, shredded
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Water - few tbsp
Lemon zest - 1 tsp

How to make it:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a non-stick 8 inch square or round pan and dust with flour (The sugar syrup at the bottom of the pan is going to be very sticky so grease the pan with enough spray and line with a parchment paper).
Cut peaches into thin slices. Mix 1/4 cup sugar with little water and cook on medium heat until it starts thickening and bubbly. Add the peaches and mix well. In a bowl, add flour, baking powder, ginger, lemon zest, 1/2 cup sugar and salt. Add the milk and yogurt and beat until well mixed without any lumps. In the cake pan, first add the sugar syrup with cooked peaches. Pour the prepared batter over the peaches and bake for about 30 minutes or until done. Let it cool for a while. Invert the cake carefully and let it cool completely. Cut and serve with a scoop of ice-cream. Hmmm... it was perfect!

Srilekha of srishkitchen awarded me Second place in the EFM cookies series event and she also sent me a cute little smiley. Will update that on my award page in my blog index soon... And Thank you srilekha for sending me this wonderful smiley! I feel honoured!

Coming to the next half of the topic.. About milestone... This is my 100Th post! I thank each one of you for visiting my blog and leaving your lovely and encouraging comments!

Punjabi Thali

2009-06-10T14:23:00.010-04:00

Here is a punjabi thali i made when a close friend visited us last week. The menu is given below.

Menu:
Drink - Jal Jeera
Starters - Papad salad and Paneer fingers
Bread - Naan
Side dish - Kadai vegetables, Methi dhal and Chole
Rice - Peas-jeera Pulao
Raita - Cucumber raita
Dessert - Rabdi
Pickle and Sauce

Home-made paneer

Ingredients:

Milk - 5 cups
Yogurt - 1/2 cup or Lemon juice- about 1/4 cup

How to make it:

Bring milk to a boil. Add the curd and mix well. Let it boil on low flame until its curdled and the whey separates. Switch off the flame. Drain the whey water from curdled milk. Wash the paneer in cold water. Take on to a muslin or cheese cloth and squeeze to drain excess water. To make a paneer block, keep a heavy bottom pan over the paneer until set. The whey water can be used for making sabji's and also as a substitute for curd or lemon juice while making paneer. I have tried making panner using both lemon juice and yogurt. I prefer yogurt as it gives more quantity and a softer paneer.

Jal Jeera

A popular drink of punjab, served chilled before the meal instead of soup. Its refreshing as well as induce hunger.

Ingredients:

Jal jeera powder - 1 tbsp
Water - 1 cup
Ice cubes - 2
Mint or Corriander leaves - for garnishing

How to make it:

To a cup of water, add jal jeera powder and mix well. Add ice cubes and garnish with mint or corriander leaves.

Paneer Fingers

Ingredients:

Crumbled paneer - 3/4 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Onions - 1/4 cup, finely chopped
Salt - as required
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan. In a bowl, mix all the above ingredients with just right amount of water to make a soft dough. Roll into required shape and deep fry in oil until golden brown.

Papad Salad

Ingredients:

Papad - 1 (I used Lijjat papad)
Tomato - 1, finely chopped
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Cucumber - 1, finely chopped
Corrinader leaves - few to garnish
Salt - as required
Black pepper powder - as required
Lemon juice - 1 tsp (if preferred)

How to make it:

Mix all the vegetables, add salt, black pepper powder, and lemon juice. Cook papad on medium heat on a tava. Place the cooked papad on a plate, topped with the vegetables and garnish with corriander leaves.

Naan

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Active (rapid rise) yeast - 1 tsp
Warm water - 1 cup plus more if required
Salt - as required
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

How to make it:

To 1/2 cup of warm water, add the yeast and feed with a pinch of salt and sugar. Keep aside until it becomes frothy. In a bowl, add the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the yeast water and knead to make a soft dough. Add oil and knead for few more minutes. Cover and set aside in a warm place until it rises into double. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit. Take a ball of the dough and roll flat. Bake on a pizza pan until done for about 10-12 minutes. Take out and brush with butter. Cut and serve.

Peas -Jeera Pulao

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup cooked and grains separated
Onions - 1 cup chopped
Peas - 1/2 cup
Jeera - 1 tbsp
Cashews - few
Bay Leaf - 1
Cardamom - 3 or 4 crushed
Cloves - 3 or 4 crushed
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Green chillies - 2 or 3, slit
Oil - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Heat oil and butter in a pan, add bay leaves, cashews, crushed cardamom, cloves and jeera. Add the onions, green chillies and ginger garlic paste and fry until onion turns transparent and raw smell of garlic goes off. Add the peas and cook until peas becomes soft. Add the cooked rice and salt and mix well.

Methi dhal

Ingredients:

Methi leaves - 1/2 cup washed
Corriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1, chopped finely
Toor dhal - 1/4 cup
Moong dhal - 1/4 cup
Masoor dhal - 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Green chillies - 2 slit
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Salt - as required
Oil - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp

How to make it:

Combine all the dhal and pressure cook with enough water and a pinch of turmeric powder. Heat oil in a pan, add jeera and when it sizzles add the onions, ginger garlic and chillies and fry until raw smell leaves. Add the chopped methi leaves, corriander leaves and curry leaves and fry for a while. Add the cooked dhal and salt. Cook until done. Add a dollop of butter on top. Mix well before serving!

Chole masala

Ingredients:

Chickpeas - 1 cup, soaked and cooked
Onions - 1, chopped
Tomato - 1
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 2 crushed
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Corriander leaves - to garnish
Oil - as required

How to make it:

Puree tomato in a blender. Heat oil in a pan, add fennel seeds, cloves and jeera and when it sizzles, add onions and ginger garlic paste. Add the garam masala, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and cardamom powder. Fry until raw smell goes off. Add the pureed tomato, salt and chickpeas and cook until done. Garnish with corriander leaves.

Kadai vegetables

Ingredients:

Vegetables - 2 cups chopped ( cauliflower, carrot, peas, beans, potato and green peppers)
Onion - 1 chopped
Paneer - 1/2 cup cubed
Tomato - 1
Tomato paste - 1 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Cashews - few
Cardamom - 2 crushed
Cloves - 2 crushed
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Kasuri methi - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - as required
Butter - 1 tbsp

How to make it:

In an un-oiled pan fry the cardamom, cloves and cashews. Grind with tomato and kasuri methi into a thick paste. Cube paneer and deep fry until golden brown. Set aside. Steam all the vegetables except onion and green peppers. Heat oil and butter in a pan add fennel seeds and when it sizzles, add onions and ginger garlic paste and fry for a while. Add chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric powder and tomato paste. Add green peppers and cook for a while. Add the pureed tomato and enough water and cook until oil separates. Add vegetables and fried paneer cubes and cook until done. Garnish with corrinader leaves.

Cucumber raita

Ingredients:

Cucumber - 1 small, finely chopped
Yogurt - 1 cup (plain)
Corriander leaves - to garnish
Salt - as required
Jal jeera - a pinch (if preferred)

How to make it:

Mix cucumber and salt in a bowl. Add yogurt and mix well. Granish with corriander leaves and sprinkle a pinch of jal jeera.

Rabdi

Ingredients:

Crumbled paneer - 1/2 cup
Evaporated milk - 1 can
Milk - 2 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup or as required
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Nuts and raisins - to garnish

How to make it:

Boil milk and evaporated milk. Add cardamom powder and sugar and let it boil until a thick layer forms on top. Add the crumbled paneer and mix well until it become thick. Pour onto a bowl and once cooled refrigerate for few hours. Granish with nuts and raisins before serving!

Here is one more look!

"Refreshing Drinks for Summer" - Round Up!

2009-06-08T14:00:00.004-04:00

Here is the round-up of my First Event "Refreshing drinks for Summer - RD for Summer". Here is the final round-up in the order i received. Pls, lemme know if any of the entries are missing/Broken links, if any.

Thank you all for sending these entries. They are really refreshing! Don't forget to bookmark this page. This sure helps keep the body fresh and hydrated in this scorching heat. Use sunscreen (With SPF more than 15) to protect the skin! Enjoy your summer!

Mango lassi by Priya Sriram
Pomegranate Smoothie by Sripriya Vidhyashankar
Mango Lassi by Sripriya Vidhyashankar
Strawberry Smoothie by Sripriya Vidhyashankar
Banana-honey smoothie by Sanghi
Papaya milkshake by Vineela shiva
Fruit Punch by Srilakshmi
Chocolate Milk Shake by Sanghi
Carrot Juice by Sanghi
Panha by Preeti
Strawberry Milkshake by Pooja
Water melon juice by Rekha
Green tea cooler by Asha
Breakfast smoothie by Divya vikram
Blackberry smoothie by Divya Vikram
Mango Lassi by Divya Vikram
Tangy Panaka by Divya Vikram
Tomato Juice by Mahimaa
Aam Khand by Ramya Vijayakumar
Water melon cooler by Vidya Venky
Grape Juice by Vidya Venky
Honey, Lime and Mint Iced Tea by Malini
Pina Colada Smoothie by Malini
Aam Pora Shorbot by Malini
Thandai by Malini
Grape Juice by Malini
Nannari Sherbet by Madhumathi
Dry Fruits Lassi by Priya Narasimhan
Mango Yogurt Smoothie by Valarmathi
Lemon Juice by Vidhas
Mango and Chikku Milkshake by Vidhas
Spicy Buttermilk by Preeti
Lassi by Vidya Venky
Gap Mocktail by Vidya Venky
Strawberry Smoothie by Vidya
Strawberry Lassi by Vidya
Dates and Almonds Milkshake by Vidya
Strawberry Milkshake by Vidya
Triple Twist by Rekha
Strawberry Smoothie by Vishali
Carrot Juice by Vidya Venky
Watermelon Juice by Vidhya Iyer
Bonda Juice by Prathibha
Fruity Yogurt by PJ
Spinach Juice by Ujwala Mohan
Cucumber cooler by Shama Nagarajan
Carrot-Orange Juice by Vidhas
Neer Moar (Buttermilk) by Vidhas
Cocoa Milk Shake by Vidhas
Musk melon Juice by Vidhas
Banana Cashew Milk Shake by Vidhas
Pomegranate sweet lime juice by Vidhas
Mix Fruit Juice by Vidhas
Lemon Juice by Vidhas
Watermelon and Avacado Milkshake by Priyasuresh
Orange Ginger lemonade by Priyasuresh
Strawberry and banana shake by Priyasuresh
Strawberry Soup by Priyasuresh
Grape juice by Priya Sriram
Mango Shake by Prajusha
Rose Milk by Vidya Venky
Cha Ma-Naw (Lime iced tea) by Uma
Chocolate Banana Delight by Uma
Double- Trouble Shake by Uma
Fruity Curdy Shake by Uma
Strawberry Lemonade by Uma
Watermelon-Strawberry lassi by Indrani
Strawberry Lassi by Prathibha
Watermelon Cooler by Prathibha
Trio Delight by Sripriya vidhyashankar
Watermelon Cooler by Malini
Chocolate drink by Vidya Venky
Rose Milk by Vidya Venky
Strawberry Smoothie by Vineela siva
Mixed Fruit Smoothie by Ramya Bala
KokMok by Preeti
Cucumber watermelon cooler by Usha Rao
Mango Cranberry Smoothie by Notyet100
Aam Panna by Vidhas
Iced Green tea by Vidya Venky
Strawberry Milkshake by Dharani Jagadeesh
Rose sharbath by Vidya Venky
Mango Juice by Anu
Green grapes Juice by Anu
Mango Bubble tea by Laavanya
Alphonso Milk Shake by Navita
Dried roselle Iced tea by Aquadaze
Strawberry Banana Milkshake by AnuSriram
Cantaloupe Smoothie by AnuSriram
Almond-carrot kheer by AnuSriram

Scallions Kootu

2009-06-01T13:31:00.006-04:00

Ingredients:

Scallions (Spring Onions) - 1 big bunch
Moong dhal - 1/2 cup
Channa dhal - 1/4 cup
Tomatoes - 1/3 cup, Chopped
Green chillies - 3 or 4
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Red chillies - 1 or 2
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - few

How to make it:

Wash and chop scallions. Pressure cook with tomatoes, moong dhal and channa dhal. Grind coconut, cumin seeds and green chillies into a paste. In a pan, mix the pressure cooked scallions dhal, ground paste, asafoetida and salt. Cook for about 5 minutes. Heat oil in a small pan, add red chillies and mustard seeds and when it splutters add urad dhal. Pour this over the kootu. Garnish with curry leaves. Serve hot! Goes good with Rotis or Rice.

Kunuku - An easy evening snack

2009-05-26T17:07:00.004-04:00

Kunuku is a famous deep-fried snack in Tamilnadu and it is made from left-over Adai batter. It is made by dropping small amount of batter in hot oil and deep fried until brown or can be mixed with Shredded cabbage, Drumstick leaves, Onions, Coconut or any green leaves before frying.

Ingredients:

Adai batter - 1 cup Click here for the recipe
Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped
Curry Leaves - few
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp (if preferred)
Oil - for deep frying

How to make it:

Mix chopped onions, curry leaves and fennel seeds to the adai batter. Drop spoonful of adai batter in hot oil and deep fry until golden brown. Take onto a tissue paper to drain excess oil. Serve with your favourite chutney or hot and sweet ketchup and a cup of tea.

Baby Potato fry

2009-05-22T15:09:00.003-04:00

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes - about 12-15 nos
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Oil - 4 tbsp

How to make it:

Pressure cook potatoes until done and peel off the skin. In a bowl, mix rice flour, corn flour, chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and asafoetida. Add the potatoes, cover with a lid and shake well until the potatoes are coated with the spices and flour. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dhal. Add the potatoes and curry leaves and roast evenly on medium low heat by turning to the other side at regular intervals. Cook until done.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

2009-05-18T15:42:00.006-04:00

After being successful with my Egg-less Sponge cake recipe, i wanted to try an egg-less chocolate cake. I always know that Wilton has wonderful recipes and also i got a recipe from America's test kitchen cookbook. But, both of them had eggs. I made up this recipe by using both the recipes and using some egg replacers. The cake came out fluffy and tasty.
I already gave some egg-substitute in my previous post here. I got few more of these replacers from a vegan cookbook.

1 egg = 1/4 cup oil
1 egg = 1 tbsp vinegar
1 egg = 1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 3 tbsp water (Beat until gelatinous) (Not good for cakes; Best in muffins)
1 egg = 1/4 cup pureed fruit (apple or banana)
1 egg = 1/4 cup soy yogurt
1 egg = 1/4 cup blended silken tofu

I used oil and vinegar for my recipe.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 3/4 cups
Dark chocolate bar - 1 (3.52 oz, about 100gms) (I used Hershey's)
Butter - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder -1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla - 1/2 tbsp
Oil - 1/3 cup
Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
Water - 3/4 cup

How to make it:

Spray and dust a non-stick baking pan. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt butter and chocolate in microwave for a minute. Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda. In a bowl, whisk oil and water together. Add milk, vanilla, vinegar and sugar and mix well. Fold in the flour. Add the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly. Pour into a baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.

I decorated this car cake for my son's Birthday. He is a fan of NASCAR - #24 Jeff Gordon. The cake here is the above recipe with Butter cream frosting.

Kesar - Mango Ice Cream

2009-05-12T09:38:00.004-04:00

This is a quick and yummy dessert for the summer ahead! I made this just because i had a can of mango pulp that i bought sometime back, sitting in the pantry! I never thought i'll blog about this recipe when i made it. It came out really fantastic with a wonderful aroma of mango, cardamom and saffron blended together. And, i could not stop writing about this.. :) Oops! It started melting before i got ready with my camera to make few clicks :D

Here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

Evaporated milk - 1 can
Mango pulp - 1 1/2 cups
Powdered Sugar - as required
Kesar (Saffron) - to garnish
Almonds - few chopped
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

How to make it:

Mix evaporated milk, mango pulp, powdered sugar and cardamom powder and blend for a minute until creamy. Add almonds and saffron, mix well. Pour onto a bowl and freeze for at least 3-4 hours until set. Before serving, dip the bowl in hot water for few seconds, take it out and invert on a plate. Cut into slices and serve!

I'm sending this to Priti for her event FF: Summer treat

Puli Pongal - Spicy Tangy Rice

2009-05-08T08:41:00.003-04:00

This is one of the dish i love to have... Simple and easy to make with just fewer ingredients. I remember, the first time i tasted this dish was at my Grandmother's Place (A village near Kumbakonam)..... Needless to mention, She is an excellent cook! I love all her dishes, and even a simple rasam would taste heavenly when made by her...
Here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

Tamarind Pulp - From a big lemon sized ball
Rice - 1 cup
Dried red chillies - 5 or 6
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tbsp
Channa dal - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Salt - as required
Gingelly oil - about 1/4 cup

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pressure pan, add red chillies and mustard seeds and when it splutters, add channa dal and urad dal and fry until light brown. Add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Add the tamarind pulp and cook for a minute. Add raw rice and enough water ( usually, 1:2.5 ratio), salt and curry leaves and cook for 3 whistles. Mix well. Serve hot with fried papads.

I'm sending this to Mahimaa for her event "15-minutes Cooking" and also to Shama for her event "Village Special Recipes"

Eggless Sponge cake - My first attempt to decorate a cake

2009-05-04T14:57:00.006-04:00

This is an egg-less sponge cake i made for our Wedding Anniversary. All professional bakers, do bare with me for this decoration as this is my first attempt in decorating a cake :)

I used carbonated drink to make this. Also, i was googling to find a suitable egg-replacer to be used in cakes and also retain the spongy texture. I found this wonderful egg-replacer at kurma's place.

I used the second one and it worked well. The cake came out so fluffy and spongy.

Egg-replacer:

1 egg = 2 tablespoon flour + 1/2 teaspoon oil + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder + 2 tablespoons liquid (milk, cream, buttermilk, diluted yogurt, or dairy free alternatives like coconut milk, soy milk, etc) beaten together until smooth.

or

1 egg = 2 tablespoons water + 1 tablespoon oil + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, beaten together until smooth.

For Cake

Ingredients:

All-Purpose flour- 1 1/2 cups
Corn flour - 3 tbsp
Butter - 6 tbsp, softened
Powdered Sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Evaporated milk - 1/2 cup
Soda water - 1/3 cup
Vanilla - 2 tsp
Egg-replacer - (equivalent to 1 egg, as given above)

How to make it:

Grease a 8*8 inches square pan and dust with flour. In a bowl, mix all-purpose flour, corn flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cream butter and sugar by beating until light and fluffy. Add the evaporated milk, vanilla and egg-replacer and beat until well mixed. Add the flour and mix well. Add the carbonated drink and mix (fold) well. Pour into the greased pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35 minutes or until done.

Butter Cream Icing

Ingredients:

Butter - 1 stick (1/2 cup/ 8 tbsp)
Confectioner's sugar - 2 cups
Vanilla - 1 1/2 tsp
Milk - 2 tbsp
Food colours

How to make it:

Beat butter until fluffy. Add sugar, vanilla and 2 tbsp milk and beat (about 1 minute) until light and creamy. Divide into portions and add the required food colours and mix well. Decorate using a piping bag with required tip.

Also, i made some sugar flowers, leaves and birds for decorating my cake. For this, i made a thick sugar syrup, added more powdered sugar, little corn flour and a tsp of butter and made into a dough (like a fondant). I added some food colours and made the required designs.

Strawberry Banana Milkshake and Mixed Fruit Jam

2009-04-28T09:52:00.005-04:00

Strawberry Banana Milkshake

Ingredients:

Strawberries - 7 to 8
Banana - 1
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
Milk (cold) - 3 cups
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Ice cream - few scoops (vanilla or strawberry flavour)

How to make it:

Blend all the above ingredients in a blender with some ice cream. Pour onto a glass and top with more ice cream. Serve!

This is for my event "Refreshing Drinks for Summer", the last date for sending the entries is 30th April.
The umbrella here is a hand made one. Wanna know how to make it?? Check out my new crafts blog.

Mixed Fruit Jam

This can be made with those fruits available for the season. Its not a must to use all of them. Choose at least 3 types of fruits for better taste.

Ingredients:

Banana -1
Fruits - grapes, apple, strawberry, pineapple etc.,
Sugar - as required
Citric powder - a pinch (preservative)

How to make it:

Mash bananas. Grind each fruit separately in a blender. For every cup of ground mixture, add 3/4 cup of sugar. Cook on medium heat in a heavy bottom pan until it becomes thick (Dip a scissor inside and when released, it should form a thin line). Add a pinch of citric if making in large quantities.

Hyderabadi Vegetable Dum Biriyani and Raita

2009-04-23T14:55:00.004-04:00

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice -2 cups
Vegetables - 2 cups, chopped (carrot, beans, peas, potato)
Onion - 1 big, chopped
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Yogurt - 1 cup
Cilantro leaves - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - few
Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup
Saffron - few strands
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 +1/2 tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 3 or 4, crushed
Cardamom - 3 or 4, crushed
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts - few
Raisins - few
Almonds - few, sliced
Salt - as required
Oil - 4 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp

How to make it:

Cook rice and spread it on a plate. Add few drops of oil/ghee and mix well so that the grains do not stick together. Let it cool. Heat few drops of ghee in a pan, add turmeric powder and pour this over the rice and mix it lightly (should be like a mixture of yellow and white colour). Steam cook vegetables until just done. To a cup of yogurt, add chopped cilantro leaves, curry leaves and mint leaves. Warm milk in a separate bowl and add saffron. Heat little ghee in a pan, add the cashews, almonds and raisins and fry until light brown. Take it out and set aside. In the same pan, add remaining ghee and oil. Add bay leaf, fennel, cumin, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and fry for a while. Add the chopped onions and ginger garlic paste and fry until onion turns light brown. Add chilli powder and turmeric powder and saute until raw smell leaves. Add the steamed vegetables, salt and mix well. Add the yogurt mix and little water and cook until it starts to thicken. Now, in a baking tray, layer vegetables and rice alternatively, starting with vegetables and ending with rice. On the top layer of the rice, pour the saffron soaked in milk. Cover with a lid or foil and seal tightly. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit in a pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes. Take it out. Let it cool a bit. Transfer to a serving bowl (if necessary, this is just to mix it lightly) add the fried nuts and raisins. Serve hot with chips and Raita!

Raita:

Ingredients:

Yogurt - 1 1/2 cups
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Tomato - 1, finely chopped
Cilantro leaves - few, chopped
Chilli powder - a pinch
Jal jeera powder - a pinch (if preferred)
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Mix onion with a pinch a salt and let it stand for few minutes. Add tomato, cilantro, salt and yogurt and mix well. Sprinkle chilli powder and jal jeera powder on top.

Dear friends Priya Sriram, Anu and Varunavi says " I love your blog" by sharing a beautiful award. I will update that in my Index page. This award comes with a rule of passing it to 7 blogs that i love.. which is a real tough job for me! So, i would like to pass it to all my blogger friends! You all rock! I love all your blogs and your yummy recipes!

Veg. Nilgiri Korma

2009-04-20T13:26:00.003-04:00

Ingredients:

Onion - 1, finely chopped
Vegetables - 2 cups, chopped (Carrots, Beans, Cauliflower and Peas)
Cilantro leaves - 3/4 cup chopped
Mint leaves - 1/2 cup chopped
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Coconut - 1/2 cup shredded
Cashew nuts - 1/3 cup
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (if preferred)
Whole Milk - 1/2 cup
Salt - as required
Oil - 1 tbsp

How to make it:

Steam vegetables until just done. Grind cilantro, mint, coconut, cashews and green chillies into a paste. If necessary, sprinkle some water while grinding. Heat oil in a pan, add bay leaf, cumin and fennel and when it sizzles add onions and saute for a while. Add the ginger garlic paste, corriander powder and garam masala and saute until raw smell goes off. Add the ground paste and 1/2 cup water. Add the steamed vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup whole milk and mix well. Garnish with cilantro.

This recipe got its "Very Green Colour" from the cilantro and mint leaves and so sending this to the event JFI: Cilantro
I used whole milk in the recipe instead of cream, because i used more of the cashew nuts to get a wonderful creamy dish and hence, this goes to the event Let's go nuts "Cashew nuts".

Virundhu - Traditional Tamil feast

2009-04-15T10:49:00.008-04:00

Wish you all a Happy Tamil New year. Hope you all had a wonderful celebration !!!
Coming to the topic, Here is the feast i made for the New year. Its a No Onion- No Garlic feast. Its called "Virundhu" in Tamil.
The menu includes Pachadi, Medhu vada, Vegetable curry, Kootu, Sambar, Mor kuzhambhu, Rasam, Curd, Payasam, Pickle and Vadagams -Served with Rice.

Pachadi

This pachadi is made with five ingredients with different tastes like Sweetness, Saltiness, Bitterness, Sourness and Hotness. This signifies that "Life is like a mixture of all these tastes. Accept whatever comes our way and treat everything equal"

Ingredients:

Mango - 1/2 cup sliced

Green chilly - 1

Dark Brown sugar - 1/4 cup

Salt - a pinch

Neem flowers - few

How to make it:

Melt brown sugar in water and bring it to a boil. Add mango, chilly and salt. Cook until mango is soft and pachadi becomes thick. Fry neem flower in 1 tsp oil and add it to the pachadi.

Vegetable curry

Ingredients:

Cabbage - 1 cup chopped

Carrot - 1/2 cup, finely chopped

Beans - 1/2 cup, finely chopped

Peas - 1/4 cup

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2, slit

Coconut - 1/2 cup grated

Salt - as required

Curry leaves - few

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dal and green chillies. Add all the vegetables and salt and cook covered until done. Sprinkle water if necessary while cooking. Add the grated coconut and curry leaves.

Kootu

Ingredients:

Chow-Chow (chayote) - 1, chopped

Peas - 1/4 cup

Moong dal - 1/4 cup

Channa dal - 1/4 cup

Green chillies - 2 or 3

Coconut - 1/2 cup, shredded

Cumin - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Asafoetida - a pinch

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Cilantro - to garnish

Salt- as required

Dry red chillies - 1

How to make it:

Cook moong dal and channa dal with enough water in an open pan. When it is half done, add the peas and chow-chow and cook until they are almost done. Grind coconut, green chillies and cumin into a paste and add it to the cooked veggies with salt. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters add urad dal and dried red chillies and add this to the kootu. Garnish with cilantro and curry leaves.

Sambar

Ingredients:

Okra - 1 cup, diced

Toor dal - 1 cup cooked

Tamarind pulp out of small lemon sized ball

Corriander seeds - 1 tbsp

Channa dal - 1 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 2 or 3

Coconut - 1/4 cup, shredded

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Cilantro - to garnish

Sambar powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Salt - as required

How to make it:

Heat oil in a small kadai, add red chillies, corrainder, urad dal, channa dal, fenugreek seeds and fry until light brown. Let it cook and grind with coconut into a paste. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dhal. Add the okra pieces and fry for a while. Add the tamarind pulp, asafoetida, sambar powder, turmeric powder and cook until raw smell goes. Add the mashed toor dal and salt and let it boil. Add the ground paste and cook until done. Garnish with curry leaves and cilantro.

Mor kuzhambhu

Ingredients:

Taro root/ arbi/ Chepang kizhangu - few, cooked, peeled and diced

Thick curd - 2 cups

Coconut - 1/2 cup, shredded

Rice - 1 tsp

Toor dal - 1 tsp

Channa dal - 1 tsp

Cumin - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2 or 3

Ajwain seeds - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Dried Red chillies - 1 or 2

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Cilantro - to garnish

How to make it:

Soak rice, channa dal and toor dal in water for about 1/2 hour. Grind this with coconut, green chillies and cumin into a paste. In a pan, add 1/2 cup water with the curd and mix well without any lumps. Add the ground mixture, turmeric powder, asafoetida, salt and cooked taro root and mix well. Check the taste. Now heat it on a medium flame until it boils. Garnish with curry leaves and cilantro. Heat oil in a small kadai, add red chillies, mustard seeds and when it splutters add ajwain and pour this over the mor kuzhambhu.

Rasam

Ingredients:

Tomato - 1 finely chopped

Tamarind pulp from a small goose-berry sized ball

Toor dal water - 1 cup

Pepper - few, crushed

Green chilly - 1, slit

Rasam powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - as required

Curry leaves - few

Cilantro - to garnish

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cumin - 1 tsp

How to make it:

In a pan, add the tamarind pulp, water, tomatoes, rasam powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida powder and green chilly and cook until tomatoes are soft. Mash well with a potato masher. Add coarsely ground black pepper and salt. Add the toor dal water and bring it to a boil. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters add cumin and pour this over rasam. Garnish with cilantro and curry leaves.

Paal Payasam

Ingredients:

Whole milk - 6 cups

Basmati rice - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Raisins - few

Cashews - few

Almonds - few

MTR badam mix - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Saffron - a pinch

How to make it:

Bring milk to a boil, add the rice and cook until rice is half done. Add the cardamom powder and sugar and cook until rice becomes soft. Add MTR badam mix and mix well. Add raisins, cashews and almonds fried in ghee. Garnish with saffron.

And my Medhu vada recipe here !

Cutlet Chat

2009-04-13T14:46:00.004-04:00

I used the frozen veggie burgers instead of cutlets as i don't see much difference between them except for some spices, which gets adjusted with the ingredients here ;)

Ingredients:

Frozen burgers - 2
Sev - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Peas - 3/4 cups
Tomato - 1, finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch, shredded
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Amchur powder - 1/2 tsp
Chat masala - a pinch
Tomato ketchup
Cilantro - 1 tbsp, chopped, to garnish

For Chutney:

Cilantro leaves - 1 cup chopped
Mint leaves - few
Tamarind pulp - 4 tbsp
Craisins - few
Salt - a pinch
Dried Red chilly - 1 ( if required)

For Papdi:

All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - as required
Ajwain seeds - few
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

For papdi:
Mix flour, ajwain and salt with enough water and knead into a soft dough. Roll in to a thin round shape and cut into small squares. Fry in oil until light brown and crispy.

For Chutney:
I used craisins instead of dates. Grind all the ingredients with 1/2 cup water.

For chat:
Thaw frozen veggie burgers and cook as per the package instruction. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, onions and ginger and fry until light brown. Add tomatoes and cook until soft. Add turmeric powder, corriander powder, salt, chilli powder and garam masala and cook until raw smell disappears. Add 1 cup water and cooked peas and cook until it gets little thick.
Cut the burgers into 2 or 3 pieces. On a plate, place the burger pieces. Add papdi and pour one or two ladles of the prepared peas masala. Pour the chutney and tomato ketchup. Sprinkle some chat powder, amchur powder and sev on top and garnish with cilantro leaves. Prepare this just before eating to enjoy the crispiness of papdi and the softness of burger at the same time. Hmmmm...

I'm sending this recipe to Pallavi for her event "Sunday snacks - Chaats" and also to Sahaja for her event "Single serving recipes"

Aloo Baingan - My style

2009-04-09T09:58:00.003-04:00

I made this aloo baingan yesterday as a side dish for my chappatis. I prepared my own masala powder for making this... Just because, I'm bored using the same garam masala for almost all my side dish recipes.

Ingredients:

Masala Powder :

Black pepper - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Corriander seeds - 1 tsp
Peanuts - few
Cloves - 2
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 3 or 4
Coconut - 1 tbsp, shredded

Aloo baingan:

Onion - 1 big, chopped
Tomato - 1, chopped
Potato - 1 big, boiled, peeled and cubed
Eggplant - 2 cups, chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece, shredded
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Cilantro leaves - few, chopped
Curry leaves - few
Masala powder - 2 tbsp or as per taste
Oil - as required (up to 6 tbsp)

How to make it:

Masala powder:
In an un-oiled pan, fry all the above ingredients except coconut until they turn light brown. Let it cool. In the same pan, fry coconut until it gets dry (without oil). Grind everything into a Coarse powder.

Aloo baingan:
Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry potatoes and eggplant separately. Add a dash of salt and corn flour (if preferred) while roasting. Take it out. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onions, cilantro leaves, curry leaves and ginger and fry until light brown. Add the tomato and saute until it becomes soft. Add the masala powder and turmeric powder and fry for few minutes until the raw smell leaves. Add 3/4 cup water, fried eggplant and potato and cook until it thickens. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve. The masala was mild and we all loved it! Those fed up with the garam masala that gives the same taste for every dish can try this... :)

I'm sending this to EC for her Event WYF: Side dish

Cantaloupe Smoothie

2009-04-06T15:07:00.003-04:00

Ingredients:

Cantaloupe - 2 cups chopped
Green seedless grapes - 1/2 cup
Apple - 3/4 cups chopped
Yogurt - 1/2 cup (4 oz)
Ice cubes - as required
Sugar - as required

How to make it:

Wash and cut the cantaloupe into two. Discard the seeds. Scoop out the fruit or cut into chunks. Add all the above ingredients in a blender and blend well. Serve.
I tried this with plain yogurt and also with strawberry-banana yogurt and both tastes good. Add sugar if the cantaloupe is not so sweet. I tossed some mildly sour green grapes and it added a kick to the recipe. This recipe serves 2. Increase the quantity of fruits as per your taste and number of servings.
This goes as an entry to my event "RD for Summer"

Fried Rice

2009-04-03T10:17:00.004-04:00

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 2 cups
Vegetables - 2 cups, chopped lengthwise (Carrots, Beans, Peas, Green peppers)
Onion - 1, chopped lengthwise
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Bay leaf - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Cardamom - 3 or 4
Cloves - 4
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Cashews - few
Cilantro leaves - for garnishing
Oil - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Soak basmati rice in enough water for 10 minutes and cook with 3 cups water until done. Spread on a plate and let it cool. Steam cook all the vegetables except green peppers until just done. Heat oil and butter in a pan, add bay leaf and fry for a while. Now add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, crushed cardamom, crushed cloves and cashews and fry until light brown. Add onions and slit chillies and fry until onions become translucent. Add green peppers and fry until peppers are soft. Add the steamed vegetables, salt and garam masala and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the rice and mix well. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and serve hot!

Easy to make and is a quick fix for lunch with a cup of raita!

"Refreshing Drinks- RD ( Research and development :)) for summer"

2009-04-02T09:02:00.004-04:00

Hooray! Spring is here! Can feel the warmth in the air and see the plants and trees smiling with colours. But, before we could realise it is spring, it becomes a hot summer day!

So, for the summer ahead, I'm pleased to announce the first ever event hosted @ chandrabhaga. The theme being "Refreshing Drinks" to welcome the season. The days are long and so, its time for shopping sprees, vacation planning, make sand castles, and for those who were staying home lazy all through the winter unlike me, its time to get fit and toned. Its a pleasant time now and with the summer ahead, i wanted you all to pour the refreshing drinks, to keep us well hydrated.

You can send entries in any of the categories below.

Fresh Juices (prepared by tossing one or more of the combination of fresh fruits and even some vegetables in a blender or a juicer, a zero cooking process).
Smoothie (a thick beverage, made with a combination of fruits, crushed ice and frozen yogurt).
Milkshake (a beverage made of milk, ice cream, fresh or flavoured syrup and blended or whipped until foamy, served in a tall glass topped with whip cream or a scoop of ice cream.)

It would be really refreshing if it is made with those fresh fruits available for the season. Do not use preserved ones just to make them more natural. Health conscious ??? Substitute soy milk, Herbs, Green tea or nutritional supplements if you feel smoothies have a high calorific value added up due to the sugar content from fruits, yogurt and natural sweeteners.

Rules for the event:

Make any of the drink specified above and post it in your blog between the time of announcement until April 30, 2009 and link back to the event.
If you want to send an entry that is already been posted, do re-post it with a link back to the announcement.
No limits. You can send in as many entries as you wish.
E-mail your entries to events(dot)oup(at)Gmail(dot)com (events.oup@gmail.com) with "RD FOR SUMMER" as the subject and with the following details:

Your Name

Name of your blog

URL of the post

A photo (any size) of your entry

Non-bloggers are welcome. Just send in the details of the entry with a picture.
Use logo in your post ( not a must, though).

The round-up will be just in time for the summer. Looking for your entries to fill my inbox :)
Have a great day!

Okra-Tomato Sabji

2009-03-31T09:34:00.005-04:00

Ingredients:

Plum Tomatoes - 2
Okra - 1 cup (washed and cut into 1 inch pieces)
Onion - 1 big chopped
Cashews - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 2 or 3
Cloves - 2
Dried red chillies - 2
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
Oil - as required
Butter - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Corriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt - as required
Sugar - 1 tsp
Black beans - 1/2 cup cooked (optional)

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add cashews, red chillies, cardamom, cloves and onion and fry until onion becomes translucent. Let it cool. Grind into a paste. Add corn flour to the okra pieces, add some oil in a pan and shallow fry them until light brown and evenly fried. Take it out and set aside. Heat oil in a deep bottom pan, add butter and oil and fry cumin seeds. Add the tomatoes, corriander powder and garam masala and cook until it becomes soft. Add the ground paste, chilli powder, salt, sugar and 1/2 cup water and cook until oil separates. Add the okra pieces and black beans and cook for few more minutes. Serve hot with pooris or rotis. The aroma was too good with those cashews and butter blended together with other ingredients.
The tomatoes used here should be really plum and juicy.

Mexican Green rice with Black beans

2009-03-27T08:44:00.004-04:00

This goes good as a part of the platter or inside a burrito. I read this recipe from a magazine sometime back and i don't remember the name. Also, i vaguely remember exact ingredients used in the recipe and so, here comes my own version. The addition of black beans is my special Mexican touch. Also , i made some burritos with the left over rice, store bought tortillas, with more beans, veggies and sour cream. It tasted gr8! We all loved it!
Here comes the recipe...

Ingredients:

Long grain rice - 1 cup
Black beans - 1/2 cup cooked
Onion - 1
Green bell pepper - 1
Garlic - 2 or 3 cloves
Jalapeno peppers - 1 or 2
Cilantro - 1 small bunch, washed an chopped
Water - 1 1/2 cups or as per the quality of the rice
Crushed black pepper - as required
Oil - 4 tbsp
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Heat a griddle (no oil necessary) and cook the bell peppers, garlic and onion until charred on all sides. Let it cool. Blend the veggies with cilantro and jalapenos with little water into a paste. Heat oil in a heavy bottom non-stick pan, add the rice and fry for a while. Add the puree, enough water, salt, pepper and black beans. Close with the lid when the water starts to boil and simmer for 15 minutes until done. Garnish with more cilantro leaves.

I'm sending this to "It's a Vegan World - Mexican" hosted by Vaishali.

Swiss Cheesy Calzones and Cilantro-Craisins Buttery spread

2009-03-24T08:20:00.009-04:00

Hooray! Kerrygold is now a partner with Foodbuzz. Kerrygold offers a wide variety of cheese and butter products. They come straight from the heart of Ireland. To know more about their products and a great collection of recipes go to their website here. As a member of Foodbuzz Taste-maker programme, I was waiting to receive two coupons for kerrygold products. Got these coupons by mail and the first thing that day was to try one of their product.
My love for Swiss cheese made me buy that! OMG!! The Colour of the cheese was so pleasing and the Taste was absolutely heavenly! Never ever tasted such a wonderful Swiss cheese before.. The flavour was too good!
I made these calzones that day to enjoy this Swiss cheese...

Here is the recipe!

SWISS CHEESY CALZONES

Ingredients:

For Dough:

All-purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Rapid rise Highly active yeast - 1 1/2 tsp
Warm water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - 2 tbsp

For Filling:

Swiss cheese - 1 cup shredded
Onions - 1 chopped
Bell peppers - 1 chopped
Eggplant - 1/2 cup chopped
Tomato - 1 chopped
Tomato Paste - 2 tbsp
Garlic - 2 cloves crushed
Black Pepper - 1 tsp, crushed
Basil - 1 tsp dried
Parsley - 1 tsp dried
Salt - as required
Oil - 1 tbsp

How to make it:

Dough: To 1/2 cup of luke warm water, add sugar and salt and mix well. Add the yeast and set aside for about 10 minutes until its frothy on top. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt. Add the yeast water and more luke warm water (about 1/4 cup) to prepare a soft dough. Add 2 tbsp oil and knead the dough gently for about 5 minutes. Cover and let it stand for about 2 hours or until it becomes double in size.
For filling: Heat oil in a pan, add garlic and onions and fry until light brown. Add green peppers, eggplant, tomato and tomato paste and cook for a while. Now add parsley, basil, black pepper and salt and cook for 5 more minutes until soft. The filling mixture should be thick.
Now, take a ball of the dough. Roll it into a circle. To one half of the circle place some filling mixture and sprinkle enough cheese on top. Fold and press the ends. Also, use a fork to press the ends to get a nice finish. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until it turns light brown. Sprinkle some cheese on top of the dough to get a more cheesy touch.

KERRYGOLD BUTTER:

I preferred the salted butter to go as a spread on a slice of Irish soda bread for breakfast. It was amazing! The taste of the butter made me feel like home! We all loved it! Surely, a best way to start the day!

I also made a buttery spread for my breads. Here is the recipe..

CILANTRO-CRAISINS BUTTERY SPREAD:

Ingredients:

Cilantro - 1/2 cup chopped
Craisins - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 2 cloves
Butter (salted) - 2 ounce, softened

How to make it:

Blend cilantro, garlic and craisins until fine. Add this to the butter. Mix well.

For making sandwich:
On a slice of a 12 grain bread, spread some prepared butter. On the other slice, spread your favourite sauce ( I used Frank's red hot sauce and Chilli-garlic tomato sauce). Add some shredded Kerrygold Swiss cheese in between. Toast on a griddle until light brown and cheese melts. Cut and serve. This hot and sweet sandwich was a great hit! The aroma of the butter is just amazing!

Do try this Butter for sure, i bet you'll love this! Either in a recipe or as a spread, the flavour of this butter makes any food, taste the best!

I thank Kerrygold and Foodbuzz for giving this wonderful opportunity to try these products from Ireland. Now its time for me to try more of them! Some already in my shopping list! Will soon come up with more recipes!

My dear Friend Varsha of Will-O'-the Wisp passed me this Excellent blog award! Thankyou so much sweety for thinking about me.. I'm flying in joy! I would like to pass this award to all my blogger friends! Pls, do feel free to take it from me.

Almond-Carrot Kheer

2009-03-20T09:50:00.006-04:00

Ingredients:

Carrots - 4 big
Milk - 3 cups
Almonds - 1/3 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

How to make it:

Soak almonds in water for about 15 minutes and peel of the skin. Wash carrots, cut the ends, peel the outer skin and pressure cook until done. Let it cool. Add carrots, almonds, sugar, milk (Use a pasteurized and homogenized milk directly in the recipe. If using fresh milk, Boil milk and cool before adding) and cardamom powder in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve chilled.

I'm sending this recipe to "Lets Go Nuts- Almonds" hosted by JZ of Tasty treats

I'm sending these cookies to "EFM March- Cookies" event hosted by Srilekha of Me and My Kitchen

Clockwise from top left:
1. Almond- Coconut cookies
2. Choco-Butter cookies
3. Dates Cookies
4. Orange-Strawberry cookies

Sweet Potato Pone - A Caribbean Recipe

2009-03-18T09:02:00.005-04:00

OOPS! I missed it! I prepared this dish for the Caribbean event that was Going "ON" in Meeta's Blog, thinking the cut-off is until this month end! But, noticed today that it is already over!
Anyways, its OK! Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

Sweet potato - 1 big or 2 small ones
Coconut - 1 cup, shredded
Whole milk - 1/2 cup
Light Brown sugar - 1 cup ( The original recipe called for the Dark one)
Ginger - 1 inch piece, shredded
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Butter - 2 tbsp, softened
Raisins and Craisins - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup Luke warm

How to make it:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash, Peel and Grate sweet potato. Combine sweet potato, milk, brown sugar and spices. Add butter, water, coconut and raisins. Mix well. Pour into a greased baking pan and bake for about 1 hour or until it gets firm at the center. Serve!

Karadaiyan Nonbu

2009-03-15T17:55:00.005-04:00

Karadaiyan nonbu is observed on the day of the conjunction of the Tamil months Masi and Panguni. On this day women observe fast and pray for the welfare of their Husband. More about it here.

Velladai and Uppadai are the special items for this day. Here is the recipe!

Rice flour: Dry roast rice flour in the pan until it gets warm and sieve to get a fine flour without any lumps.

Velladai:

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Coconut - 3/4 cup shredded
Dark brown sugar - 1 cup
Kaaramani (horse gram/ cow gram)- 1/2 cup cooked
Cardamom - 4
Water - 2 1/2 cups

How to make it:

Dissolve brown sugar in water and bring it to a boil. Add horse gram, coconut and cardamom powder. Add rice flour and mix well without lumps until it becomes thick dough. Let it cool. Make balls out of the dough and press it flat, make a small depression in the center and steam cook on greased idli plates.

Uppadai:

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup
Coconut - 3/4 cup shredded
Kaaramani - 1/2 cup cooked
Green chillies - 2
Ginger - 1 tbsp chopped
Curry leaves - few chopped
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - 1 tbsp
Water - 2 cups

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dal, green chillies, ginger and curry leaves. Fry for a while. Add water, salt, horse gram and coconut. Bring it to a boil. Add rice flour and mix without lumps until it becomes thick dough. Let it cool. Make balls out of the dough. Press it flat, make a small depression in the center and steam cook on greased idli plates.

Vegetable Kurma

2009-03-12T14:04:00.004-04:00

Ingredients:

Onion - 1 big, chopped
Vegetables - 2 cups (chopped Carrot, Beans, Cauliflower, Potato and little Peas)
Tomato - 1 chopped
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cashews - few
Green chillies - 2 slit
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Bay leaves - 1
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
Cardamom - 2
Curry leaves - few
Corriander leaves - for garnishing
Salt- as required

How to make it:

Steam all the vegetables until just done. Grind cashews and coconut into a paste. Heat oil in a pan, add bay leaves, cinnamon and crushed cardamom. Add the green chillies and onion and fry until onion turns light brown. Now add the chopped tomatoes and fry for 2 minutes or until it becomes soft. Add the ground paste, turmeric powder, salt, chilli powder and corriander powder. Fry for a while. Add 1/2 cup water and steamed vegetables and cook until it starts to thicken. Add the yogurt and mix well. Cook for 2 more minutes. Garnish with corriander leaves.

Its award time now.. Jaishree of Ruchi and Vibaas of Delectable vegetarian recipes passed me these awards 1. Adorable blog award, 2. Amazing blog award, 3.Triple award and 4. One lovable blog award.
I would like to pass these awards to Archy, Asha, Happy cook, Madhumathi, Mahimaa's kitchen, Sripriya, Superchef, Sriharivatsan, Gita's kitchen, Uma, Usha, Cham and Laavanya.
Vibaas has also passed me the Super duper chef awards. Gita has passed me the Friends award. I'm drown in this lovely rain. Feeling honoured and flying in joy!
I have updated the awards on my Index page.

Chitrannam (Variety Rice/ Kalavai Sadam)

2009-03-06T14:02:00.009-05:00

This is usually made for Adiperukku (also called Pathinettam peru in Tamil). But, can't wait until adiperukku for making it again, just because it has been our favourite since childhood. I usually make either of the variety as a quick fix for the lunch box. I made this Chitrannam (Variety Rice or Kalavai Sadam) for a special occasion at home few days back. The menu that day was Rava Ladoo, Medhu vada, Lemon Rice, Puliyogare, Coconut Rice and Curd Rice (Bagalabath) with Cabbage-Peas-gobi fry and fried Vadagams. We simply Loved it! Also with minimal ingredients and in less time, here is a wonderful spread !!

FOR RICE:

Cook rice with the required water, usually 1:2 or 1:2.5 depending on the rice used. I always prefer raw rice or long grain rice for making this chitrannam. Basmati rice??- NO!. The smell of basmati rice dominates the other flavours, i feel. For best result, try cooking rice in an open pan. Spread cooked rice on a plate, apply some oil and mix well. This prevents the grains from sticking together. Let it cool. Divide into equal portions.

LEMON RICE:

Ingredients:

Lemon juice - from 1 lemon
Green chillies - 3 or 4 chopped
Curry leaves - few
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Cashews - few
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add channa dal, urad dal and cashews and fry until light brown. Add green chillies and curry leaves. Switch off the flame. Add the asafoetida and turmeric powder. Add this to the cooked rice with salt and lemon juice. Mix well.

COCONUT RICE:

Ingredients:

Coconut - 3/4 cup shredded
Moong dal - 2 tbsp
Green chillies - 3 or 4 chopped
Curry leaves - few
Ginger - small piece shredded
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Cashews - few
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

How to make it:

Cook moong dal with enough water until just done. Do not over cook. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters add urad dal and cashews and fry until light brown. Add the ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. Add the cooked moong dal and coconut. Switch off the flame. Add this to the cooked rice along with salt. Mix well.

PULIYOGARE:

The paste prepared for making puliyogare can be stored for a long time in the refrigerator. Its always a good idea to make the paste a day before making this chitrannam varieties to save cooking time.

For paste:

Tamarind (dark) - 1 big lemon size
Dried long red chillies - 4 or 5
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Oil - 1/3 cup (gingelly/sesame oil is preferred)
Jaggery (brown sugar) - 2 tsp powdered
Curry leaves - few
Peanuts - 1/3 cup roasted
Salt - as per taste

For powder:

Dried red chillies - 2
Corriander seeds - 2 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp (if preferred)
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp

How to make it:

Take pulp out of tamarind. Heat oil in a pan, add red chillies and mustard seeds and when it splutters add ural dal and fry until light brown. Add the tamarind pulp. Once it starts boiling, add the sambar powder, asafoetida powder, turmeric powder and salt. Cook until the raw smell leaves. Add the jaggery, curry leaves and peanuts. Cook until it thickens.
To make the powder, dry roast the above ingredients until light brown. Cool and grind into a powder. Add this powder to the cooked rice and mix well. Let it stand for sometime. Add the paste and mix it thoroughly.

CURD RICE:

Ingredients:

Thick curd - 1 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup (Luke warm)
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Carrot - 1/4 cup shredded
Cucumber - 1/4 cup shredded
Ginger - 1 tsp shredded
Corrainder leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
Mor milagai - 5 or 6 (chillies soaked in spiced up curd and sun-dried)
Salt - as required
Asafoetida powder - a pinch

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, fry mor milagai and keep aside. Mix all the above ingredients (except mustard seeds) with the rice and mix well. Heat little oil, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add it to the prepared curd rice. Mix well.

CABBAGE-PEAS-GOBI FRY:

This is an easy to make curry with a different flavour . This recipe uses sambar powder instead of chilli powder.

Ingredients:

Cabbage - 1 cup chopped
Peas - 1/2 cup
Cauliflower florets - 1 1/2 cup
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add urad dal and fry until light brown. Add the vegetables and fry for a while. Add sambar powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida powder and salt and cook covered until vegetables are just done. Sprinkle some water if required to cook the vegetables. Add curry leaves. Mix well.

MEDHU VADA - i have already posted my recipe here. The variation this time is, i added chopped onions in the batter and dropped spoonful of batter into the hot oil instead of making them as regular vadas.

RAVA LADOO - Click here for the recipe i posted earlier.

Dear Shama passed me these beautiful awards....

Everybody blogs with a purpose! so I'm dedicating this to all bloggers.. Do feel free to grab this award from me if you own a blog!

The award states that-

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement (? big word, lol). Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

So here is my list of 8:

1. Sripriya
2. Asha
3. Varunavi
4. Meeso
5. Mahimaa's kitchen
6. Vidhas
7. Vibaas
8. Ramya bala

Onion Bhajji

2009-03-03T15:14:00.004-05:00

Ingredients:

Onion - 1 big, chopped lengthwise
Besan - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Corriander leaves - 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Curry leaves - few, finely chopped
Salt - as required
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Mix all the flour, chilli powder, asafoetida and salt together. Add the onions, curry leaves, ginger-garlic paste and corriander leaves. Add enough water to make it a very thick batter (not like dough). Heat oil in a deep bottom pan, add the onions 2 - 3 pieces together at a time. Fry until brown. Take it on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Serve hot with a favourite chutney or sauce.

Rajasthani Thali

2009-02-25T12:06:00.014-05:00

Rajasthan ... The first thing that comes to our mind is the Camel , the ship of the dessert and a camel ride. The next is the Jaipur city with lot of arts and crafts shops and the beautiful Jaipur palace. Coming to rajasthani cuisine, Only fewer ingredients are available in this arid region and the scarcity of water and fresh vegetables has effect on their cooking. The main ( i can say, it is a must) ingredients are besan, cumin, fennel and ajwain. Almost all recipes call for Besan (Bengal gram flour). So, with just few ingredients, here is a delicious meal.

This is the Rajasthani Thali i prepared yesterday. Above picture: Clockwise from center- Missi roti, Rajasthani Kadhi, Papad ki sabji, Gatte ka pulao, Rajasthani sabji and on the right is the Payesh.

RAJASTHANI KADHI

Ingredients:

For Kadhi

Curd - 1 cup
Bengal Gram Flour - 1/2 tbsp
Water - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as required
Onion -1
Cinnamon - small stick
Cloves - 2
Red chillies - 2
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Corriander seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Ginger - 1 tsp grated
Curry leaves - few
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

For Pakodis

Besan - 1/2 cup
Methi leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
Cilantro leaves - few chopped
Green Chilli - 1
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

For Kadhi:
Beat curd and besan with 1/2 cup water until no lumps. Add turmeric powder and salt. Heat oil in a deep pan, add red chillies, cumin seeds, corriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, Cinnamon and cloves. When they splutter, add grated ginger and onions and fry until onion turns light brown. Add the chilli powder and curd mix and cook on low flame until it thickens. Add the curry leaves, just before switching off the flame.

For methi pakodis:
Mix all the ingredients together with little water and make a soft dough. Heat oil in a pan, drop pieces of dough and cook until it becomes light brown. Take on to a paper towel to drain excess oil. Add the pakodis to the prepared Kadhi. Serve Hot!

GATTE KA PULAO

Ingredients:

For Gatte

Besan - 1/2 cup
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ajwain-1/2 tsp
Curd - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Oil - for frying

For Pulao

Rice - 1 cup
Onion - 1 chopped
Cardamom - 2 crushed
Cloves - 2 crushed
Cashews - few
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Garlic,Green chilli,Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Cilanto leaves - for garnishing

How to make it:

For Gattas:
Boil water in a large pan. Mix all the ingredients together and by adding very little water, make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into equal portions. Shape into a thin cylinder. Rub some oil over the rolls. Drop into the boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain and let it cool. Once cooled, cut into small bits and deep fry in oil.

For Pulao:
Cook rice with right amount of water. Let it cool. Heat oil and ghee in a kadai, add cardamom, cloves, cashews and cumin. When it turns light brown, add the onion and the chilli-ginger-garlic paste and saute until the raw smells goes off. Add the asafoetida, chilli powder, turmeric powder and garam masala. Saute for a while. Add the gattas and salt. Add cooked rice and garnish with cilanto leaves.

Above pic: Gatte boiling in water and cooled.

RAJASTHANI SABJI

This sabji has a combination of vegetables which is available during that season.

Ingredients:

Green Peppers - 1/2 cup, chopped
Onion - 1 chopped
Carrot - 1 chopped
Cauliflower florets - 1 cup
Peas - 1/4 cup
Potato - 1 cubed
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - 1/2 tsp shredded
Sabji masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as required
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Curd - 1/4 cup

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds ginger and onions and fry until onion turns light brown. Add the asafoetida, sabji masala, garam masala, chilli powder and turmeric powder. Add the vegetables and mix well. Add salt and cook covered on low flame until vegetables are half done. Sprinkle little water if required. Add curd and cook until vegetables are just done and the curd dries up. Serve with rotis.

RAJASTHANI PAPAD KI SABJI

Ingredients:

Papads - 2
Small onion - 2 chopped
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Curd - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Water - 1/2 cup
Salt - as required
Corriander leaves - for garnishing
Curry leaves - for garnishing

How to make it:

Heat ghee in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters add cumin and asafoetida powder. Add onions and fry until light brown. Stir in the curd. Add chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Add 1/2 cup water and bring it to a boil. Break the fried (deep fried in oil) or toasted papads (toasted on a griddle by pressing it with a cloth or toasted directly on the flame using tongs) into small pieces. Add to the water and boil for 5 more minutes. Add corriander leaves and curry leaves and serve hot as a side dish for rotis.

MISSI ROTI

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 cup
Besan - 1 cup
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Corriander powder - 1 tsp
Ajwain - 1/2 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Ghee - for brushing

How to make it:

Combine all the ingredients except ghee in a bowl. Make into a stiff dough by adding little water. Divide the dough into equal portions and make evenly sized balls. Roll each ball into a round shape with a rolling pin. Heat a griddle, add the rolled dough and cook on both sides. Brush little ghee on the rotis. Serve hot.

Here is a complete meal served hot!

Dear Archana passed me this lovely " Circle of Friends" award. I feel immensely delighted seeing the 100 acre woods gang. They are so sweet!

I would like to pass this award to Cham, Shama, Malar, Vidhas, Vibaas, Sriharivatsan, Hema, Jaishree, Happy cook, Asha, Sripriya, Varsha, Usha, Yasmeen and Veena.

Spicy Brussels Sprouts

2009-02-20T13:11:00.005-05:00

Ingredients:

Brussels Sprouts - 10-12 buds
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Corriander seeds - 2 tbsp
Channa Dal - 1 tbsp
Urad Dal - 1 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dried Red chillies - 3 big
Asafoetida Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coconut - 1 tsp, shredded
Tamarind - a small ball size
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Wash Brussels sprouts and slit open on the bulb end like 'X'. Steam cook until half done, for about 5 minutes. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, roast red chillies, corriander seeds, channa dal, uraddal and fenugreek seeds until golden brown. Let it cool. Add coconut, asafoetida powder, tamarind and salt and grind into a thick paste. Take a spoon of the paste and stuff inside the slit brussels sprouts. Heat oil in a pan, add onions and fry until golden brown. Add the stuffed brussels sprouts and the remaining paste. Cook covered on a low flame turning to the other side at regular intervals to get them evenly roasted. Cook until done. Serve hot! I made this as a side dish for mor kuzhambhu and the combination was perfect.

Trupti had sent me the "Good Chat Blog" award and "You're a Sweet Heart" award and Hemabalaji had sent me the "You're a Sweet Heart" award and "You are a Super Duper chef" award. Thank you so much Dear Friends for sharing it with me! I'm flying high in joy!

I have already passed this SH award to my SH's. Now, I would like to pass this Super Duper chef award to 1.Jaishree, 2.Sripriya, 3.Laavanya, 4.Rak's Kitchen, 5.Asha, 6.Happy cook and 7.Vij.

Also, Click here to know more about Brussels Sprouts and a Delicious Gravy recipe.

Veggie Packets

2009-02-18T08:41:00.006-05:00

This is a variation to our Indian Samosa. I tried making them as a square shape. I started making it smaller, but ended up with a size of a Ravioli. So, Can i call these "Indian Raviolis" ? :-)

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup
Ajwain seeds - 2 tsp
Salt - as required

For the Filling:

Potatoes - 2 medium
Onion- 1 finely chopped
Carrots, Beans and Peas - 1 cup
Mint leaves - 1/2 cup chopped
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Mix enough water with the flour, salt and ajwain and make a soft dough. Apply some oil. Cover and set aside for about 30 minutes. Boil potatoes, peel the skin and mash it. Heat oil in a pan, add onions and fry until light brown. Add finely chopped carrots, beans and peas. Add the salt, garam masala, chilli powder and turmeric powder. Cook until veggies are half done. Add the mashed potatoes and mint leaves. Sprinkle little water while cooking, if needed. Cook until done. Let it cool.
Make balls out of the dough and roll each ball into a round shape. Scoop equal amount of veggies on the rolled dough with equal spacing in between. Cover with another rolled dough on top of that. Press with your hands around the veggies so that it is completely sealed. Cut into a square shape. Deep fry in oil. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Yasmeen has created this lovely award and Vidhas joins her in passing it to me... Thank you Ladies! I feel Fresh and Honoured...

I would like to pass this to Sriharivatsan, Ramya bala, Archy, Cham, Kalai and Sripriya.

Mint Chutney

2009-02-13T15:15:00.003-05:00

Ingredients:

Coconut - 1 cup shredded
Mint leaves - 1 cup
Corrainder leaves - 1 cup
Curry leaves - few
Green Chillies - 3 or 4
Urad Dal - 1 tbsp
Channa Dal - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - size of a quarter
Salt - as required
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 1 or 2
Oil - 1 tbsp

How to make it:

Wash mint leaves and corriander leaves thoroughly in water and take out the stem. Heat oil in a pan, add the urad Dal and channa Dal and fry until light brown. Switch off the stove. Add green chillies, mint leaves, corriander leaves and few curry leaves immediately. (the leaves turns dark in seconds). Let it cool. Grind with coconut, asafoetida, salt and tamarind. Heat oil in a pan, add few mustard seeds and red chillies and when it splutters, add few curry leaves and pour it over the chutney. Mix well. Goes good with dosa, idli or plain rice.

This goes to Ramya for her Chutney/Dip Mania Event

Eggless Carrot - Cranberry muffins (C C Muffins)

2009-02-09T13:32:00.004-05:00

Ingredients:

All Purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Shredded carrot - 1 cup
Dried Cranberries- 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Light brown sugar- 1/3 cup
Half and half - 1/3 cup
Butter - 4 tbsp or 1/2 stick, softened
Ground Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Ground Anise - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 4 powdered
Plain Yogurt - 2 tbsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

How to make it:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, light brown sugar, cinnamon,anise, cloves, baking powder and salt) together. In another bowl, mix the softened butter, half and half and yogurt. Add this to the flour mixture and beat on low speed for 2 minutes, until it becomes smooth and creamy, without any lumps. Now toss in the carrots and cranberries and beat for another one minute. Pour into the baking cups until half and bake for about 30 minutes or until done ( a toothpick inserted inside should come out clean).

These carrot flavoured muffins goes to FIC: Orange, hosted by Aparna.

Vij had sent me the "Lemonade award" sometime back and today i got an opportunity to share it with everybody. Vibaas passed me this "Good chat blog award". Feeling Delighted..... Of course, I love chatting. Thank you both for passing me these awards. I would like to pass this Good chat blog award to Jaishree, Navita, Aquadaze and Hema Balaji.

Falafels in Pita pockets

2009-02-03T15:39:00.005-05:00

Falafels originated in the mid-east and is a famous fast food of the Egypt. Not just Egypt, but a popular food all over the world. Falafel is served in pita pockets (thick breads which forms a pocket while baking), in wraps or eaten just like that with hummus. I was waiting to try this at home since i had these on our visit to newyork city sometime back.
It was a dull snowy day and i wanted myself get engaged in doing something new. Actually, i was asked to prepare something new by my "HD" (even he gets bored with all my regular dishes :-)). He is not of the type of accepting food, however it is.... Good and tasty food served on time is what everybody wants! I tried this out just for him and it was a great hit ! I never told what i was going to do that day. My "HD" was so curious and was peeping into the kitchen frequently to see whats going on.. But, he could not make it out what i am doing. He was so happy to see them on the table "Ready to eat"!. I never expected i would get such a nice pita bread, baking at home and the falafels had a wonderful taste that my kid ate them hot with a favourite sauce. The dull day turned nice and bright and we all had a wonderful family time after that. It was lotta fun!

Falafel

Ingredients:

Chickpeas - 1 cup
Onions - 3/4 cup finely chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves minced
Cilantro Leaves - 1/2 cup chopped
Fresh Parsely - 2 tbsp
Ground Cumin - 1 tsp
Crushed red pepper - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Bread crumbs - 1/4 cup
Salt - as required
Oil - for Frying

How to make it:

Soak dried chickpeas for about 8 hours or overnight. Pressure cook chickpeas until done. Or, if using canned chickpeas, drain the water and use it directly in the recipe. Combine chickpeas, onions, garlic, cilantro and parsely in a food processor and make it into a coarse paste. Add cumin, crushed red pepper, corrainder powder, bread crumbs and salt. Make small balls out of the dough and fry in oil until light brown.

Pita Bread

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup
Quick rising yeast - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1/4 tsp
Warm water - 1/2 cup

How to make it:

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar. Set aside for about 15 minutes, until the yeast forms a frothy layer on top. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt. Add the yeast water and enough luke warm water to prepare the dough. Knead the dough for atleast 10 minutes until it becomes soft and elastic. Keep the prepared dough in a greased bowl. Set aside in a warm place for about 2 hours, until the dough becomes twice the actual size. Make small equal sized balls out of it and arrange the balls on a plate and let it sit for another 15 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, take a ball of the dough and with a rolling pin make it into a circle with little thickness. Place it on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes. You can see the bread puffing up. Turn to the other side and bake for 2 more minutes. Remove from the oven and spray some oil over the bread. This keeps the bread from getting hard. (pic: clockwise- falafels in pita pockets, pita bread cut into half, pita bread puffing inside the oven)

For Stuffing:

Ingredients:

Onion - 1 finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped
Carrot - 1 shredded
Cilantro - ( as required) shredded
Sauce - Tahini, Tomato sauce, Chilli-garlic or as preferred
Hummus - As required

How to make it:

Take a pita bread and cut into two. On one half, stuff some onions, tomatoes and carrot. Place 2 or 3 falafels and add more onions, tomatoes, carrot and cilantro over that. Drizzle some sauce on top or Serve with your favourite sauce and Hummus.

I'm sending this to Alka of Sindhirasoi for her "Just for You" event and also to Susan of The well-seasoned cook for her event "My legume love affair - Eighth helping".

Nei Appam

2009-01-30T14:29:00.005-05:00

Ingredients:

Raw Rice - 1 cup
Light brown sugar or jaggery - 1 cup (or 3/4 cup for dark brown sugar)
Banana - 1
Coconut - 1/2 cup shredded
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Ghee - as required

How to make it:

Soak rice for about 1 1/2 hours with enough water. Drain the water. Grind rice, brown sugar, banana, coconut and cardamom powder with very little water in a blender until smooth. It should be in the consistency of thick dosa batter. Heat kuzhi-appam pan on medium heat. Pour a teaspoon of ghee and pour the batter until full. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn to the other side carefully, add more ghee if required and cook until done.

Bread Channa

2009-01-27T15:19:00.004-05:00

Whenever i make sabji for rotis, i always end up with atleast a cup of left over sabji and i always find ways to use it in my next meal.
This time, i had a cup of channa masala sitting in my fridge which later turned into this delicious bread channa.
Click here for Channa masala recipe.

Ingredients:

Bread - 4 slices
Channa masala - 1 cup
Onion - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Tomatoes - 1/4 cup, chopped
Corrainder leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped
Tomato sauce - any flavour
Butter - as required

How to make it:

Toast bread as you regularly do. If using a griddle, Spread little butter on the griddle, place bread slices and toast on both sides until brown. If using a toaster, Keep slices of bread and toast for 2-3 minutes. Spread some butter on the toasted bread. Take a slice of the bread and spread some tomato sauce. Place some channa masala, onions, tomatoes and corriander leaves. Place a slice of bread over that ( just like a sandwich). Cut across. Serve with your favourite chutney or sauce. Here it is! A simple tasty treat!

This recipe goes to JFI: Chickpeas

Chettinad Poondu kuzhambhu

2009-01-23T14:55:00.005-05:00

Ingredients:

Garlic - 1/2 cup, sliced lengthwise
Onion - 1/2 cup, chopped lengthwise
Tomatoes - 1/2 cup chopped
Tamarind - lemon size
Sambar powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
Cummin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - 1/4 cup (Gingelly oil)
Curry leaves - few
Onion Vadagams - about 10-12, fried

How to make it:

Take pulp out of tamarind. Add sambar powder, chilli powder and asafoetida powder to the pulp. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add the urad dhal, cummin seeds and fenugreek seeds. Add the onions and garlic and cook until light brown. Add the tomatoes and cook until tomatoes become soft. Add the prepared pulp, salt and sugar and bring it to a boil. Keep in a low flame and let it boil until it becomes thick and oil separates. Add the curry leaves and fried onion vadagams (sun-dried onion mix with spices). Serve hot with rice, idli or dosa.

I'm sending this to Srimathi for her RCI: Chettinadu Vegetarian Cuisine.

Taro Root/ Chepang kizhangu/ Arbi Fry

2009-01-20T14:17:00.007-05:00

Ingredients:

Taro Root - 1 lb
Corn Flour - 2 tbsp
Rice Flour - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - few
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Pressure cook Taro root. Once done, Put it in cold water for about 15 minutes. Peel off the skin and cut into pieces. Take the pieces in a bowl (with a lid), add corn flour, rice flour, chilli powder, asafoetida powder, turmeric powder and salt. Close it with the lid and shake it lightly until it gets evenly coated. Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and when it splutters, add the urad dhal and curry leaves. Add the taro root and cook on low flame. After every five minutes turn it to the other side so that it gets cooked evenly. Add a teaspoon of oil every time your turn it to the other side (if desired). Cook until done.

I'm sending this recipe to FIC: YELLOW hosted by Sunshinemom.

Sudeshna and Sriharivatsan passed me this Lemonade Award... Feeling so Cool and Refreshed! Thank you so much...

I would like to pass it to Srikar's kitchen, Mrs.Kannan and Shama Nagarajan

Congrats Dears!

Sweet Potato 65

2009-01-16T14:34:00.008-05:00

Ingredients:

Sweet potato - 1
Corn flour - 1/3 cup
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Peel the skin of the potato and slice it. In a bowl, add the corn flour, rice flour, chilli powder, asafoetida powder and salt. Add water and make into a paste. Heat oil in a pan. Dip the slices in the prepared paste and drop in the oil one by one. Fry on both sides until done. Take onto a paper towel to drain excess oil. Serve hot. Makes a nice evening snack!

I'm sending this to Srilekha's EFM-Savouries.

I'm sending my Bengali Royal Rice, Chilli-Tangerine Rice and Zucchini Rice recipes for "Harvest- The festival of rice" event.

Bengali Royal Rice:

Chilli-Tangerine Rice:

Zucchini Rice:

Paal Poli ( Milk pooris) and Medhu Vada

2009-01-13T14:18:00.005-05:00

Paal Poli

These are small fried pooris soaked in flavoured milk. One of my favourite too... My mom used to make this paal poli for festivals and i really love eating them 3 or 4 at a time.

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 3 cups
Saffron - few strands
Almonds and Pistachios - 2 tbsp crushed
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Add salt to the flour. Knead the flour with enough water to make a soft dough. Brush some oil on top and let it stand for 15 minutes. Make sugar syrup by adding 2 cups water with sugar and boiling it for 10 minutes. Add a little of cardamom powder to the sugar syrup. Make balls out of the dough and roll it into a round shape (like a poori). Drop in the oil and fry on both the sides. Take out and dip into the sugar syrup. Let it soak in the sugar syrup until you drop the next one. Fold into two and take onto a wide bowl. Repeat this for remaining pooris. Boil milk in a pan, add almonds, pistachios, cardamom powder and saffron. Pour this hot milk over the pooris. Let it soak for about 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Medhu vada

Ingredients:

Urad dhal - 1 1/2 cups
Salt - 1/2 tbsp
Green chillies - 2
Ginger - 1 small piece, Chopped
Curry leaves - few
Whole Black Pepper - 1 tsp
Oil - for frying

How to make it:

Soak urad dhal with enough water for about 2 to 3 hours. Grind urad dhal, green chillies and ginger together with salt. While grinding, be careful not to add too much water. Just sprinkle little water if necessary while grinding. Grind nicely until the batter is soft and thick. Take it onto a bowl. Add the curry leaves and black pepper. Heat oil in a pan. Take little amount of the batter onto a plastic sheet. With your hands wet, make a round shape and a hole at the center. Turn the sheet upside down onto your palm. Take out the batter carefully and drop into the oil. Fry until golden brown.

Tip: Add finely chopped onions or cabbage to the batter for extra flavour.

I wish all my dear Friends, Relatives and Visitors of Chandrabhaga, a Very Happy Pongal !
Lets pray god for a good Harvest and sufficient supply this year and let the demand for Rice and Grains disappear.

Here is my Sakkarai Pongal recipe.

Have a wonderful celebration!

Thiruvathirai Kali

2009-01-10T19:11:00.004-05:00

Thiruvathirai is a festival in Tamil culture. Its falls in the Tamil month of Margazhi and it is the birthday of Lord Shiva. This festival is known more by the name Arudhra Darisanam than Thiruvathirai. It is the day when Lord Shiva performed the Thandava. On this day those women who follow this tradition observe partial fast. Kali and ezhukari kuzhambhu is the dish made at every home.

Herez the recipe for Kali.

Ingredients:

Rice - 3/4 cup
Moong dhal - 1/4 cup
Channa dhal - 1/4 cup
Jaggery (brown sugar) - 1 cup
Coconut - 1/2 cup shredded
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cashews - few

How to make it:

Dry roast rice, moong dhal and channa dhal. Once cooled, grind into a coarse powder (it should be like sooji). Take 1 cup of the ground powder. In a pan, add 1 cup jaggery with 2 1/2 cups water and bring it to a boil, add coconut, cardamom powder and 1 tbsp of ghee. Add the ground rice-dhal powder and keep on stirring until all the water is absorbed and it is well cooked. Garnish with cashews fried in ghee.

Thirattu Paal ( Milk Sweet)

2009-01-08T13:53:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was Vaikunta Ekadasi. I have already posted about Vaikunta Ekadasi Last year. Click here if you want to know more about Vaikunta Ekadasi and the neivedyam i made last year. Usually for Ekadasi we do abishekam for lord Krishna at home. Here are some photos of my Lord Krishna.

Above: Photo taken during abishekam.

This big Krishna is now 11 years old and the baby krishna is now 2 years old. The stone near Krishna is a part of govardan hill. (Bought from Govardan hill when i went for a tour to Mathura and Brindhavan).

Above: Photo taken after alankaram. Baby krishna wearing a sweater coz' of the cold weather outside.

I made some thirattu paal for neivedyam yesterday. This is an easy to make milk sweet.

Ingredients:

Milk - 3 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 1/2 tsp
Almonds - few chopped for finishing

How to make it:

Heat milk in a heavy bottom pan and bring it to a boil. Keep it on a low flame until thick malai forms. Stir continuously until it thickens. Add the sugar and cardamom powder and keep on stirring until it comes together. Now add the ghee, and this helps to take that out easily without sticking to the pan. Take it into a bowl or when it is cooled little bit, make some balls out of it and decorate with nuts. Enjoy!

New Year feast - A simple Thali

2009-01-06T15:44:00.006-05:00

Hi everybody!
Hope you all had a wonderful start of the New Year!
I'm back to blogging after the holidays.
This is the menu i made for the new year.

Herez the Menu Card

Soan Papdi, Chips and pickle are store bought.

Semia Payasam:

Ingredients:

Vermicelli - 3/4 cup
Milk - 5 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Cashews - few
Raisins - few
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Pachai karpooram (camphor) - a pinch
Ghee - 1 tbsp

How to make it:

Heat ghee in a small pan, add the cashews and fry until golden brown. Switch off the flame and add the raisins to it. Take out and keep it aside. In the remaining ghee add the vermicelli and fry until it becomes light brown. Take 4 cups milk in a pan and bring it to a boil. Add the fried vermicelli, sugar, cardamom powder and cook for about 10 minutes until the vermicelli is done. Add the pachai karpooram, fried cashews and raisins. Garnish with a pinch of saffron.

Vegetable stew

Ingredients:

Chopped Carrots, Cauliflower, Potato and Peas - 2 cups
Onion - 1 chopped
Tomato - 1 small
Coconut Milk - 1 1/2 cups
Green chillies - 4
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cashews - few
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - few
Ghee - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Shred coconut, grind with little water. Squeeze out the thick milk and keep aside. Grind again by adding more water. Take the second coconut milk and keep it separately. Heat oil and ghee in a pan, Add the mustard seeds and when it splutters add the green chillies. Add the onions and fry until light brown. Add the vegetables and fry for sometime. Add the tomatoes, light coconut milk and salt and cook covered until the vegetables are done. Mix the rice flour with the thick coconut milk, add it to the vegetables and cook until it thickens. Add the cashews and garnish with curry leaves.

Mysore milagu rasam

Ingredients:

Pepper - 1 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Channa dhal - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 2
Coconut - 1 tbsp shredded
Tamarind pulp - 1/2 cup
Tomato - 1
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Cooked toor dhal - 3/4 cup
Water - 1 1/2 cup
Salt - as required
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Corriander leaves - few
Oil - 1 tsp

How to make it:

Heat oil in a pan, add the red chillies, Pepper, Jeera, Urad dhal, channa dhal and curry leaves. Fry for a while until light brown. Once cooled, add coconut and grind into a paste. Add tomato with tamarind pulp, add more water, turmeric powder, Asafoetida powder, salt and sugar and let it boil until tomatoes are cooked. Now add the ground paste and let it boil for 5 more minutes. With a whisk, mash the cooked dhal and add it to the rasam. Garnish with corriander leaves.

Happy New Year 2009!

2008-12-31T22:19:00.006-05:00

I wish all my Friends, Relatives, Fellow bloggers and visitors of Chandrabhaga, A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2009.

This is one of my painting i wanted to share with you all.

May this new year fill your heart with new hopes, open new horizons and bring you promises of brighter tomorrow with prosperity and happiness.

Malai Kofta

2008-12-22T14:42:00.006-05:00

Ingredients:

For Koftas:

Potato - 2 boiled
Carrot - 1 boiled
Paneer ( cottage cheese) - 1/2 cup crumbled
Gulab jamun mix - 3 tbsp
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
Corn flour - 1 tbsp
Salt - as required
Corriander leaves - few chopped
Oil - for frying

For gravy:

Onion - 1
Tomatoes - 2
Green chilli - 2
Almonds - 7 or 8 (whole)
Cashews - 7 or 8 (whole)
Cardamom - 1
Ginger - 1 tsp shredded
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Cream - 1/4 cup
Salt - as required
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Corriander leaves - for garnishing

How to make it:

For koftas:
Heat oil in a pan. Mash the boiled potatoes and carrot. Add the crumbled panner, all purpose flour, gulab jamun mix, salt and corriander leaves. Make into small evenly sized balls. Roll it in corn flour and fry until golden brown. Take into a paper towel and drain off excess oil.

For gravy:
Grind onion, tomatoes, almonds, cashews, cardamom and green chilli into a fine paste. Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. Add the ground paste and cook for a while. Add the ginger, garam masala, turmeric powder, salt, sugar, red chilli powder, corriander powder and cook until the raw smell of onion goes off and until the oil separates. Add water if the gravy becomes too thick. Now add the cream and corriander leaves and cook for 2 more minutes.
Place koftas on a bowl, add the gravy over the koftas and serve hot immediately with your choice of bread or rice.

WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Pasta recipes!

2008-12-18T13:16:00.010-05:00

These are some of the pasta varieties i make frequently. Time taken for making pastas varies from 10 minutes to even an hour or so and it depends on the variety we make. Some varieties are really easy to make and one among them is my Veggies 'n elbows. Its a no bake pasta dish with lot of veggies and it goes into the lunch box in just 15 minutes.

One more variety here is the Stuffed shells. It takes more time for this process from boiling the shells to stuffing and then baking. At last.... when it comes to the table... Hot and yummy!... everything is gone!

Veggies 'n elbows

Ingredients:

Elbows - 2 cups
Aspargus - 6 or 7 chopped
Broccoli crowns - 1 cup, cut into florets
Green peppers - 1 /2 cup chopped
Carrots - 1/2 cup chopped
Onion - 1 chopped
Garlic- 2 cloves, finely chopped
Dried basil - 1 tsp
Dried oregano - 1 tsp
Dried thyme - 1 tsp
Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp
Lemon zest - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Parmesan cheese - 2 tbsp, shredded

How to make it:

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Rinse the cooked pasta in cold water. This keeps the pasta firm. Heat oil in a skillet, add the onions and garlic and fry until golden brown. Now add the veggies and cook covered for a while. Sprinkle some water if needed, to cook those veggies. Add the dried thyme, oregano, basil, red chilli flakes and salt and cook until vegetables are done. Drain water from the pasta completely, add it to the cooked vegetables. Add the lemon zest just before taking off the stove. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese over the pasta. Serve hot!

Stuffed shells

Ingredients:

Medium shells - 2 cups
Spinach - 1 cup finely chopped
Mozzarella cheese - 3/4 cup shredded
Pasta sauce - 3/4 cup
Salt - as required

How to make it:

Cook the medium shells as per package instructions. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the spinach and mozzarella cheese in a bowl. Stuff the prepared spinach-cheese mix into the shells. Spray a non-stick baking pan and place these stuffed shells. (Phew!.. its takes little long to stuff shells one by one!). Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese melts. Add the sauce over the pasta and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve hot!

Hema of Adlak's kitchen passed me "Best blogger friends" award. Thank you so much Hema. I feel honoured.

Almond- Coconut Cookies

2008-12-15T14:18:00.016-05:00

Holidays are around and everybody wants to enjoy them in their own special way! Just feeling warm inside the house watching a movie, Going on a road trip to a holiday destination, Inviting friends and relatives home for a lunch or dinner, a get-together, a potluck or whatever it is.. these cookies make a special treat. Not just for the holidays , baking them is so easy that you just have to mix up the ingredients, bake'em and have it ... whenever you like.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Coconut Flakes - 1/4 cup
Crushed almonds - 1/4 cup
Cloves - 5 crushed
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Butter - 6 to 8 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

How to make it:

Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Dust a non stick cookie sheet with some flour. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add softened butter and mix it well. It should still be a powder and not like a dough ball. On a flat surface, spread the cookie mix for about an 1/2 inch thick and press it little hard with your hand until it sets tight. Once the mix is set, cut out the required shape using a cookie cutter. If the shape breaks when taking out from a cookie cutter, then it needs little more butter (Add more butter only if needed). Place it on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes.

For making it as a gift:

Take a clear glass bowl and spread some paper grass (make it green or red for the holidays). Arrange the cookies over the grass. Cover it with any transparent sheet and tie a ribbon. Don't forget a personalized card! Happy Holidays!!

I'm sending this recipe to Happy cook, who is conducting this wonderful event - Home made christmas gift @ My kitchen treasures.
Also, Click here for the live updates on the home made christmas gifts!

I'm also sending this to JZ of Tasty treats for her event Santa's Ho liday Challenge

Pori Urundai and kadala Urundai (Rice flakes balls and Peanut balls)

2008-12-11T14:00:00.011-05:00

I wish you all a happy and colourful "Kaarthigai Deepam".

Kaarthigai deepam is a festival of lights celebrated throughout Tamilnadu, that fall in the tamil month of Kaarthigai on the full moon day. On this day, the houses are decorated by lighting oil lamps all over. The lighted lamp is considered an auspicious symbol and Its believed that it brings Joy and Prosperity. The sweet made for this day is pori (puffed flakes) urundai.. Some types of pori are Aval (poha) pori, Nel (brown rice) pori and Arisi (rice) pori. Today, i made this with puffed rice flakes. I added the hot jaggery little by little to the flakes and peanuts and so I'm not sure how much puffed rice and peanuts i have used. It yielded about 7 nos. of pori urundai and 9 nos. of peanut balls.

Ingredients:

Jaggery (Dark brown sugar) - 1 1/4 cups
Puffed rice flakes
Peanuts
Cardamom powder - 1 /2 tsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp

How to make it:

Pori Urundai:

Grease a plate with little ghee. Add 1 1/2 cups water to the jaggery and on a medium heat, stir continuously until it starts bubbling. Add the cardamom powder. To test if the jaggery is in the right consistency, add a spoon of it into cold water. Try making it into a small ball by draining the water. The jaggery is cooked to the right consistency, if you could make a ball out of it. Switch off the stove. Add the puffed rice flakes to the greased plate and add jaggery little by little and when its still hot, and with your hands greased with ghee make balls out of it.

Kadalai urundai:

Take skins off the peanuts. Follow the steps above, similar to making pori urundai. Add jaggery to the peanuts and make balls out of it.

Tip: Adding coconut pieces to the pori urundai enhances the taste.

Gobi - Yogurt masala

2008-12-09T15:40:00.004-05:00

Ingredients:

Cauliflower - 1 small
Plain yogurt - 1 cup
Onion - 1 chopped
Tomato - 1 chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Kasuri methi - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 2 or 3
Cinnamon - 1 small piece
Cardamom - 2 or 3
Salt - as required
Corriander leaves - for garnishing
Butter - 1 tsp

How to make it:

Cut cauliflower into medium sized florets with little stalk on them. Take the yogurt in a bowl and mix 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Soak cauliflower in the yogurt mix and keep aside to marinate. Heat oil and butter in a pan, add bay leaf, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and fry for a while. Add onions and cook until they turn light brown. Add ginger, corriander powder and chilli powder. Add tomatoes and cook until the oil separates. Now separate cauliflower pieces from the yogurt and add the yogurt to the masala. Cook until the masala becomes little dry . Add the cauliflower pieces, sprinkle some water if required and cook covered until cauliflower is just done. Add kasuri methi, stir for a while and remove from the stove. Serve hot with rotis or parathas.

Parathas

2008-12-05T15:22:00.016-05:00

It takes little more time to make parathas, than rotis. But, if you really need a change, you have to go for it. Yesterday, when i felt boring with those rotis i usually make, thought why not make some of the parathas i know. And, made just 2 nos. each of Aloo paratha, Spiral paratha and Mooli paratha to go into my bread basket.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

Wheat flour- 3 cups
Water
Salt

For aloo paratha:

Potato- 1 boiled
Onion-1/2 cup very finely chopped
Corriander leaves - few
Corriander powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt- as required

For mooli paratha:

Radish- 3/4 cup shredded
Green chillies- 2 finely chopped
Ginger- 1 inch piece shredded
Corriander leaves- few
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Corriander powder - 1/4 tsp

How to make it:

Mix the flour with water and salt into a soft dough. spread some oil on top, cover and leave it to rest for about 1 hour. Make into evenly sized balls.

Spiral parathas:

These parathas have layers on them. Roll a small ball of dough into a thin circle. Now fold it like a fan (it will look like a layered rope) and then roll them into a spiral shape. Using a rolling pin, press slightly to make it a round shape. Heat a griddle, add the rolled dough, cook on both sides with oil. Crush the parathas slightly keeping them in between tissue papers. Doing this gives them good layers. Serve hot.

Aloo paratha:

Mash the boiled potato and add all the other ingredients listed. Make into small lemon size balls. Take a ball of the dough roll it into a small circle, keep the potato ball in the middle, cover with the dough completely and roll it again into a round shape. Heat a griddle, add the rolled dough, cook on both sides with oil and serve hot with yogurt or any side dish. Usually, aloo parathas use no veggies except potatoes. I tried adding some onions to it. The taste was so good.

Mooli paratha:

Heat oil in a pan, add the shredded radish, green chillies and fry for a while. Now add the ginger, corriander leaves, turmeric powder and corriander powder. Let it cool for a while. Now take a ball of the dough, roll into a small circle, add the radish mix, cover with the dough completely and roll it again into a round shape. Heat a griddle, add the rolled dough, cook on both sides with oil and serve hot.

I made Gobi-Yogurt masala as a side dish for these parathas. Will post that recipe soon.

Earlier, I have already posted my Vegetable paratha recipe. Click here for the recipe.

Tip: Sometimes, onion when added with potato and salt gives out water. If you feel, the parathas will become messy while rolling, keep the mix in refrigerator for about 20 minutes and then use it for making the parathas.

Minestrone soup

2008-12-01T14:47:00.006-05:00

Ingredients:

Vegetables ( Carrots, beans, zucchini, corn, cabbage, celery) - 2 cups chopped
Red kidney beans - 1/2 cup ( canned)
Pasta - 1/2 cup uncooked
Vegetable broth - 4 cups
Tomato paste - 2 tbsp
Tomato - 1/4 cup chopped
Onions - 1/4 cup chopped
Scallions - 1/4 cup chopped
Dried oregano, basil and thyme - 1 tsp each
Salt - as required
Pepper - to taste
Bay leaf - 1
Parmesan cheese (grated) - 3 to 4 tbsp

How to make it:

Steam cook all the vegetables until half done. Heat olive oil in a pan and add bay leaf. Add the chopped onions and scallions and fry until light brown. Now add the chopped tomatoes, fry for a while and then add the vegetable broth, tomato paste, pasta, red kidney beans, steamed vegetables, dried oregano, thyme, basil, salt and pepper and let it boil for 10 minutes on medium heat. (Pasta gets cooked in vegetable broth). Add pepper to taste. Sprinkle some cheese on top. Serve hot with a choice of bread.

Adai Avial - 2 in 1 and the best combo!

2008-11-25T09:38:00.006-05:00

Adai is a traditional South Indian recipe. Its similar to dosa, but the ingredients used for making it has a good combination of rice and lentil varieties. Its served with tomato chutney, Jaggery or Avial. Out of these, Avial makes a great combo. A perfect Kerala Delight!

For Adai

Ingredients:

Par boiled rice: 1 1/2 cups
Channa Dhal: 1/2 cup
Toor Dhal: 1/2 cup
Urad dhal: 1/4 cup
Red chillies: 4 or 5
Spinach: 1 cup finely chopped
Onions: 1 cup finely chopped
Fennel seeds: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: few
Ginger: 1 inch piece
Asafoetida powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt: as required

How to make it:

Wash and soak rice, channa dhal, toor dhal and urad dhal for about 2 1/2 hours. Grind it coarsely with red chillies, ginger, asafoetida powder and salt. Add very little water while grinding. The batter should be thick. Divide the batter into two. To one part of the batter, add the onions, fennel seeds and few curry leaves. To the second portion add the spinach and few curry leaves. Heat a dosa griddle or a non-stick pan, add some spinach batter and spread like a semicircle. Pour the onion batter and make the other half of the circle. Add enough oil around the adai. Once it turns light brown, turn to the other side and cook until done. Serve with Avial.
Can i name this 2-in-1 adai? The adai came out nice and crisp, the taste was wonderful and trying two varieties at once always makes the meal satisfying.

For Avial

Ingredients:

Vegetables (carrots, beans, peas, potato, drumstick, chayote, mango, white pumpkin) - chopped and steamed: 3 cups
Coconut: 3/4 cup shredded
Sour Curd (Thick Plain yogurt): 1 1/2 cup
Green chillies: 4
Jeera: 1 tsp
Salt: as required
Coconut oil: 2 tbsp
Curry leaves: few

How to make it:

Chop the vegetables lengthwise and steam in an idli cooker until half done. Grind coconut, green chillies and jeera into a paste. Add it with the yogurt and mix it well. In a pan, add the steamed vegetables, yogurt mix, salt and 1/2 cup water and bring it to a boil. Add coconut oil and curry leaves and cook until the gravy thickens. Serve hot.

Choco- Butter Cookies

2008-11-21T10:23:00.006-05:00

A nice and easy to make chocolate cookies minus eggs. I usually make butter cookies with just 4 ingredients in them - flour, sugar, butter and Baking soda. This time thought of making something different from the usual and tried adding some chocolate to it. The result - These colourful and tasty chocolateee cookies. Makes a colourful Holiday treat!

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Chocolate bar - shredded 3/4 cup
Butter - 1/2 stick softened
Milk - up to 2 tsp, if required
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
M&M's - to decorate

How to make it:

Mix All purpose flour, Sugar and baking soda together. Now add butter and vanilla essence and mix well to form a dough. If it doesn't form a soft dough, add milk in drops. Do not add too much as the dough might become sticky. Now add the shredded chocolate and mix it evenly. Dust a flat surface with some flour and roll the cookie dough flat with a rolling pin. Cut out the required shape and decorate with M&M's by slightly pressing it on the dough. Bake at 350 degree Fahrenheit for about 12-15 minutes or until done. Enjoy! .....

Andhra flavours has passed me "Good job award". Thank you so much for thinking about me... I love it!

Hema balaji of Adlak's tiny world has Passed me "A perfect blend of friendship award", "Hard working food blogger award", "Great buddy Award", "Kreativ blogger award" and "Yum-Yum blog award". Thank you so much dear for sharing it with me... I'm feeling so good.

Rose Flower

2008-11-17T15:27:00.016-05:00

Making flowers... For those who think making flowers is not so easy... Here it is! A step by step instruction for making a lovely Rose flower with fabric. I'm sending this craft idea for Illatharasi's Flowers with Fabric- November event.

Materials Required:

Organdy cloth - red colour
Metal string for stems
Green sticky tape
Scissors
Thread (green or red colour)
Artificial leaves

How to make it:

Cut some square bits out of the cloth (approx 2 in * 2 in) for making petals. Use little more for bigger flowers. Follow the direction in fig. A, fig. B and fig. C for making the petals.

Keep one petal without folding for making the center bud. Now take the string and cut the required length. Fold one end of the string as shown in fig. D. Using the reserved square bit, cover the top of the string completely and tie with a thread.

Now take the petals and arrange one by one surrounding the center bud, tying with the thread as in fig. F. Usually the rose is made with 7 or 9 petals. Roll the green sticky tape over the metal string as in fig. G and attach the leaves. For the bud, Take some cloth and roll around the top of the string 2 or 3 times and tie it with a thread as in fig. E. The rose flower is now ready to decorate any place.

Holiday Tips and Ideas:

Make it as a bouquet for your loved ones.
Make a bunch of them to go in a flower vase.
Make some buds in round shape and tie them together. This definitely will look like cherries with those artificial cherry leaves and makes a perfect holiday decoration.

Again Chandrabhaga is flooded with awards.
Vidhas has passed me this Great Buddy Award and 360 degrees Foodie Award. Thank you so much for thinking of me. I feel honoured and great!

Vidhas and Jaishree passed me this Kreative blogger award. That's really wonderful! Thank you so much!

I would like to pass on these awards to asha, sripriya, kalai, happy cook and RAKS kitchen.