AnuSriram

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.

AnuSriram

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!
AnuSriram
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.

AnuSriram
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 Holiday Challenge



AnuSriram
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.




Labels: 19 comments | edit post
AnuSriram
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.




AnuSriram
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.



Labels: 14 comments | edit post
AnuSriram

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.



Labels: 10 comments | edit post
AnuSriram
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.


AnuSriram
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.


AnuSriram
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.
AnuSriram
An easy, crispy, crunchy and spicy evening snack with home made croutons.


Ingredients:
  • Bread slices: 6
  • Butter: 4 tbsp
  • Dried Parsley: 1 tbsp
  • Garlic paste: 1 tsp
  • Onion: 1 chopped
  • Green peppers: 1 cup chopped
  • Corriander leaves: 1/4 cup chopped
  • Ginger: 1 tsp shredded
  • Garam masala: if preferred
  • Oil: 2 tbsp
  • Crushed red pepper or green chillies: as per taste
  • Salt: as required

How to make it:

Mix softened butter, garlic paste and dried parsley in a small bowl. Spread the butter on the bread slices evenly. Now cut the bread into small cubes with a scissors and bake it at 300 degrees until it turns light brown. In a pan, heat oil and fry the onions until golden brown. Then add green peppers and fry until the peppers are half done. Add the corriander leaves, Ginger, crushed red hot pepper or green chillies and salt. Add little garam masala if preferred. Add the croutons and mix it well. I kept some of the croutons without mixing with the veggies just to eat it as such. I arranged it in a cabbage bowl and decorated it with some shredded carrots. To my surprise, just the bowl is left out! It tasted so good that we all loved it, especially My kid !

I'm sending this recipe to Pallavi for her event Sunday Snacks- Fix it


Also I'm sending in my Eggless Carrot cake recipe for JFI: Carrots hosted by The cooker.
Click here for the Recipe.



I'm very glad to announce my garland of awards from my friends cum fellow bloggers.

Sireesha of Momrecipies and Kitchen Flavours has passed me these beautiful awards.. Thank you friends, i feel honoured.






Sireesha, Kitchen Flavours and Vidhas made me happy with this "Inspiration Award". Thank you so much... Feeling gr8!


Also sireesha has sent me this "Hard working food blogger" award. Thanks a bunch! I think, Who ever has a food blog deserve this award as it is not so easy to blog regularly with our household work, kid(s), etc., etc.,

I would like to pass all of these awards to Kalai, Sripriya, Happy cook, Vanamala, Laavanya, Vidhas and Jayshree. Congrats!