Geethu's Caramel Custard - Guest post

How true are these words !! When you are feeling totally down to cook anything that is worth putting on the blog , when your blog is slowly dying starving for food and when you dont even bother to keep it alive and suddenly somebody calls you and says she has a good recipe that can be posted on your blog .. oh I dont really know how to explain how much those words lifted my spirit up. 

Thanks a lot Geethu for coming up with my favourite dessert .Hugssss and muahhaaas sweet heart ...

She infact has given better narration of the recipe than me and am sure you will all love this melting Caramel custard.Over to Geethu ...

Ingredients:

For the custard

1 glass milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence

For the caramel
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup water


Method for the caramel
1. Melt the sugar on low heat until it turns a deep brown.
2. Add the water carefully and cook on slow heat until a thick honey-like syrup is obtained. This is the caramel.
3. While still hot, pour the caramel into a mould and gradually turn the mould so that the sides get coated with the caramel. Leave aside.

For the custard:
1. Beat the eggs with the sugar thoroughly.
2. Boil the milk.
3. Pour the milk into the egg-sugar mix and blend it well.
3. Add the essence, beat once again and pour into the mould.
4. Cover the mould with a piece of aluminium foil/brown paper. Seal it with a cellophane tape
5. Steam cook the custard on very low heat for 20 minutes minutes. (A fine needle pierced through should come out clean).
6. Remove the cover from the mould. Cool and refrigerate it.
6. Just before serving, cover the mouth of the mould with a plate. Quickly turn the mould over on to the plate and remove the mould. Serve immediately.

Note: The topping can vary based on your interest. You can use honey, melted chocolate etc.
          you can use cherry/scrapped chocolate/honey and nuts to garnish.

Arisium paruppum saapaadu - Thoor dal rice

If you were born in coimbatore belt , you would have never missed this rice.This is one such simple rice which the recipe looks very similar to kichdi made in north india or our own pongal but it never tastes anywhere like the both .
Hari was cooking on his own until marriage for about a year and whenever I ask him what is to eat, he invariably says arisium paruppu .He likes it so muchhhh and I am happy that he likes it because this is one of the most easiest and fastest one pot meals that can be prepared in hardly 5 mins.
The taste of ghee with the aroma of garlic and jeera is heavenly .

Ingredients :

1. Boiled Rice/ ponni rice - 1 cup
2. Thoor dhal/ moong dhal/ masoor dhal - 1/4 cup
3. Water - 3 cups
4. Gingelly oil / Ghee - 2 tbsn.
5. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
6. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
7. Small onion -5 nos.
8. Garlic pods - 5 nos.
9. Curry leaves - few
10. Red chillies - 5 nos.
11. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp.
12. Sambhar powder - 1 tsp.
13. Salt to taste.

Method :

1. Soak the rice and dhal together for about 15 mins . you can totally skip the soaking process as well . 
2. Heat a pressure pan, add oil and once hot enough , let the mustard seeds and cumin seeds pop out.
3. Add onion and garlic ( no need to be chopped) , chillies, curry leaves and saute until onion is fried .
4. Now add sambhar powder, turmeric powder and water . let the water reach boiling point to add rice and dhal mixture.
5. close the pan with lid and give one whistle at high and then simmer it for 10mins .
6. Now the mushy arisium paruppum is ready .

Notes :

1. If using raw rice , i think you should reduce the water by 1/2 cup.
2. No need to chop onion and garlic .
3. Serve it by drizzling ghee and roasted papad . 

Badusha with Diwali Wishes

I just tried this Badusha for its beauty from Raks blog.. it turned out so beautiful ... Thank you raji .. 

I was little skeptical about the shape before but after rolling 4 , i was able to get it perfect .. Though I dint get it so flaky you can just not beat the taste ...

Wishing each one of you a very happy and prosperous deepawali. May this year brings you lots and lots of happiness in life and fulfill all your dreams.

As the candlelight flame,

Ur life may always be happiness' claim;

As the mountain high,

U move without sigh;

like the white linen flair,

Purity is always an affair;

As sunshine creates morning glory,

fragrance fills years as flory;

with the immaculate eternal smile,

attached to u mile after mile;

All darkness is far away,

As light is on its way;

Wish all of u a very happy diwali.

Pistachio chocolate fudge

I saw this Fudge in Suma's blog first and when I went through the recipe , it was like could be made within a blink of eye .Oh yeah should I say how it would taste if Dark chocolate and condensed milk go into a fudge. I without a second thought then decided that this is one I am going to try for sure .

Thanks a lot Suma ...

Ingredients :

1. Dark Chocolate : 175 gms.
2. Condensed milk - 200 gm.
3. Butter - 2 tbsn.
4. Pista - 75 gms.
5. Salt a pinch.

Method :

1. Grate the chocolate and put all the ingredients except pistas into a heavy bottomed pan.
2. Place it on a stove and give a gentle stir on low flame , once the chocolate is completely melted that should not take more than 3 minutes mix in the pistas .
3. Pour it into a 6 inch rectangular pan lined with foil .
4. Let it cool and then keep it in refridgerator for about 2 hours. by then fudge would have all set well.
5. Cut it into desired shapes. Immediately put it back into the freezer. 
6. It should be served straight from freezer and need not thaw it . 

Here is my chocolatey fudge going in for Madhuri's The chocolate Fest.

Whole Moong Dal Ladoo

Initially planned not to make any sweets or savories for Diwali but then after seeing posts coming from all around the world , I couldnt resist myself from making something .

After bursting a session of crackers wearing our newly bought dresses, we all step out armed with sweets and savories to meet our near and dear ones. This is the festival of joy.

Electric lamps have been hung at almost all the houses and the nice aroma of making sweets coming to my nostrils through the windows and the blog posts with so many wonderful pictures and recipes .. Wow Diwali has already started for me .

Here is my part too ..

Ingredients :

1. whole monng dal : 1 cup
2. Sugar - 1 cup 
3. Ghee - a little less than half cup
4. Dry fruits of choice .. I have used cashew nuts

Method :

1. Dry roast moong dhal in a heavy bottomed pan until nice aroma comes and immediately turn off the gas.Cool it off completely and powder it.
2. Powder the sugar and keep it aside.
3. Heat a pan and add ghee , once the ghee is hot enough add the moong dhal mixture and give a stir. Turn off the stove and add powdered sugar and mix nicely.
4. Make balls out of the above mixture . 

Yes, this blog is all about easy peacy , low fat ( though it is not completely low fat but this is one of the low calorie sweets right ;) ) 

Masala Oats Wheat Rava Idli

I know this blog is all about low calorie foods and here I come with yet another yummiest low calorie Idli.I have started having oats as porridge mixed with milk in the morning and got bored in a couple of days . Then when I was about to quit oats I saw this Oats idli in lots of blogs , its simplicity urged me to try this .
Oh yeah its not only simple but the most yummiest idli I have eaten so far. If you are on diet , it is so hard to resist your tonque with 3 idlis . You would definitely ask for more .I have added all masalas into the idli itself so that you dont require any side dish . This is perfect for lunch box also .

Ingredients:

1. White oats - 1 1/2 cups 
2. Wheat Rava - 1/2 cup.
3. Butter milk - 1 cup 
4. Grated Carrot - 1/2 cup
5. finely chopped green chillies - 2 nos.
6. Coriander leaves - few
7. Big onion - 1 no.
8. Eno salt - 1 1/4 tsp.
9. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
10. Channa dal - 1/2 tsp.
11. Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp.
12. Turmeric powder
13. Oil - 1 tsp.
14. salt to taste

Method :

1. Roast the oats for about a minute.
2. Heat a pan , add oil and season it with mustard seeds, channa dhal, urad dhal.
3. Add onion and fry till it changes colour .
4. Add green chillies, onion, curry leaves, turmeric powder and saute for few seconds.
5. Add this fried mixture into oats and Rawa .
6. Add buttermilk and salt and nicely mix.
7. Finally add grated carrots. 
8. The consistency should be of idli batter. If the butter milk is not enough , can add some more water to adjust the consistency.
9. Add eno salt and gently give a stir. Pour it into idli steamer and steam it for about 12 mins. 

Low fat creamy Sweet corn curry

My Diet phase is back . I normally go on diet without compromising on taste . Otherwise we would get bored of eating what we dont like and drop it half way . Oh yeah Did I tell you I have started some cardio too ... Oh this simple cardio for 40 mins a day is something I am passionate about of late . Lets see how much I lose coupled with not so strict diet in a month ..

My sweetcorn in the fridge was nearing its expiry and that i needed to finish it off . I have been seeing lots of sweetcorn curry floating in the blog and most of them are very rich and creamy . Then I came up with my own version and it tasted extremely extremely good . You can indulge in without any guilt and can still thoroughly relish it.

Ingredients :

1. Sweet corn - 1 cup
2. Onion - 1 big
3. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp.
4. Tomato - 1 big
5. chilly powder - 1 tsp.
6. coriander powder - 1/2 tsp.
7. cumin powder - 1/4 tsp.
8. kasoor methi - 1/4 tsp.
9. Skimmed Milk - 2/3 cup
10. corn flour - 1 tsp.
11. oil - 1 tsp.
12. salt to taste.
13. sugar - a pinch

Method :

1. Heat oil in a non stick pan , once it is hot add chopped onions and fry until it turns brown colour.
2. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute.
3. Add chopped tomato , chilly powder,coriander powder,cumin powder,salt and a little of water and fry until tomato is completely mashed.
4. Now add boiled sweet corn and milk and corn flour dissolved in water and simmer it completely for about 8 mins.
5. Finally add kasoor methi .

Notes :

1. Kasoor methi gives a total flavour to the gravy.
2. Adding a sugar is a must to get that creamy taste.
3. cook on sim after adding milk otherwise milk might get curdled .

Simple Dhal recipe

Days are getting busier after my sis's marriage got fixed . I hardly find time to even think what to cook . Too much of baking in the last few days have resulted in me adding on like 4 kgs which is definitely not good . So I am so much resisting myself from baking , cooking rich foods and got back into diet phase again .

I am also planning to post from now on for next few months about the basic recipes to make it easier for my sister ;). She hardly knows to make dhal leave alone making sambhar . So this simple recipes period starts with this simple Dal which is anytime comfort food . It goes well with rice,idli, dosa and roti as well .

Ingredients :

1. Split yellow moong dhal - 1/2 cup
2. Small onion - 3 nos.
3. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
4. Tomato - 1 no.
5. Sambhar powder - 1 tsp.
6. Green chilly - 2 nos.
7. Garlic - 1 pod

Method :

1. Pressure cook dhal upto 3 whistle along with sambhar powder and keep it aside.
2. Heat a pan , add oil and once it is hot add cumin seeds , let it splutter , then add onions and saute for about 30 secs.
3. Now add chopped garlic, tomato, green chilly,  and salt . Fry until tomato is completely cooked .
4. Add the boiled dhal into the pan , adjust the water and simmer it until the dhal gets thickened. 

Notes :

• Any dhal like split masoor dhal, toor dhal can be substituted for moong dhal. 

Pepper Mushroom Fry

There is nothing like getting up at 6 O clock and finish cooking your breakfast , lunch and the cleaning  by 7 : 15 . Hee Haa Haa if you are thinking am so fast at cooking ,no you got me wrong , thats because I make one sambhar for dosa , sweet corn pulao and this awesome pepper mushroom fry . Ok , now sitting in front of the system not knowing what to do for the rest of the day :(.. 

Ingredients :

1. Mushroom - 200 gms.
2. Onion - 1 no.
3. Green chilly - 2 nos.
4. Curry Leaves - 10 
5. Pepper Powder - 4 tbsn.
6. Oil - 2 tsp.
7. Salt to taste

Method :

1. Heat oil in a wide pan and once it reaches smoking hot , add onion and saute till onion turns translucent.
2. Reduce the flame to medium , add green chillies and mushroom and keep the pan closed for 5 minutes. Mushroom will start leaving water and cook under covered until all no water is seen.
3. Then reduce the flame to sim , add curry leaves, pepper powder, salt and cook uncovered for about 15 mins stirring in between . 
4. Mushroom will get kind of roasted and the curry leaves gives superb flavour to the fry . 

Notes :

1. Preferably use non stick pan , will consume less oil and when in sim , you dont have to worry about it getting stick to the pan .
2. Pepper powder can be adjusted according to taste.
3. Capsicum can also be used to give extra flavour and the quantity. 

Raagi Sevai

This week is the best week of mine . Week started off with my birthday followed by the confirmation of my closest friend's wedding . So , I have already become her wedding planner :P. There are so many things to be decided on , so many trials from makeup to dress , I dont know how we are going to make it perfect within 3 months. I wish there was like food blog some wedding blogs floating around. I think that would have made the job much more easier. 

In all these running behind my head , cooked nothing that is worth posting here. I also have to shed down like 3-4 kgs in next 3 months . So suggestions for healthy diet are welcome :D. 

Raagi sevai and milk stew is my recent favourite . Anything that I have learnt new and came out well at the first time will become my favourite . 

Ingredients :

1. Raagi flour - 1 cup
2. Water - 1 cup
3. gingelly oil - 2 tsp.
4. salt to taste

Method :

1. Heat water in a wide pan and once the water starts boiling , add Ragi flour and give a firm and thorough stir until all the water is completely absorbed and comes to soft chappathi dough consistency. This will not take you more than a minute.Switch off the flame and leave it aside for 10 mins.
2. Then knead it well once the mixture is cooled down . 
3. Then using murukku achu with sev mould , squeeze it into idli tawa on each groove and steam it for about 15 minutes. 

Apple Muffin - Eggless butter/oil less almost fat free

I have recently bought a silicone muffin tray and so do you need any more reason to bake a muffin ??? Due to my baking adventures I added on like 3 -4 kgs and have been always feeling fat . But still I realised I cannot stop myself from baking. 

So suddenly thought why not I bake something which is of low fat. I initially thought of making carrot muffins since Carrot cake was already featured in my blog , carrot gently paved the way for apple to appear once in my blog. 

I felt the cake was too moisty the next day otherwise it was damn good and got a thumpsup from Hari. 

Dry Ingrdients :

1. Whole wheat flour - 1 cup( maida would have tasted much better)
2. Baking powder - 1 1/2 tspn.
3. Apple - 2 nos.
4. Sugar - 2 tbsp.( I like the muffins to be less sweet and since applesauce also sweet i just added 2 tbsp)
5. Salt - 1/2 tsp.
6. Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp.
7. Nutmeg powder - 1/2 tsp.

Wet Ingredients :

1. Apple sauce - 1/4 cup
2. Milk - 1/2 cup

Method :

1. Mix all the dry ingredients including apple and keep it aside.
2. Now mix the wet ingredients and stir in the dry mixture slowly until well blended.
3. Bake it in a muffin tray at 180 degree celsius and your fatless muffins are ready.

I am sending this to sharmi's Lets munch tea time snacks event and Akila's Dish Name Starts With : A Event.

Baked Soya Manchurian

Ever Since I saw this  Gita's soya manchurian, I wanted to try my hands on it . But everytime I ended up with deep frying as I always make it at Hari's demand. I dont know when he is going to stop demanding and letting me cook for my choice.
Thanks to the fight we had today that deprived his demanding rights :). So, I happily made this baked version finally .Yes, deep fried is the best but You can bake it if you suddenly feel you are fat and go on dieting spree without comprising this heavenly manchurian.
I find after baking that it was little dry and I felt flour was little raw even after baking.Probably, I should have added little more water to the batter.But whatever after mixing it with the sauce all raw smell is  gone.
I actually started taking step by step pictures but after each step I find only vapours clouding my pictures.So dropped that idea and got one final picture.Sorry I couldnt take many pictures to post the best as these are the only pictures I took and after that I couldnt resist myself from eating these good looking manchurian.
This is the best healthy manchurian I have ever had.

Ingredients :

For the Chilly soya :

1. Soya Nuggets - 15 nos.
2. Maida - 1 tsp.
3. Cornflour - 2 tbsn.
4. Chilly powder - 2 tsp.
5. Salt to taste.

For the Sauce :

1. Oil - 2 tsp.
2. Garlic - 7 pods
3. Ginger - 1/2 inch small piece
4. Onion - 1/2
5. Capsicum - 1/2
6. Soya Sauce - 2 tbsn
7. Tomato sauce - 2 tbsn.
8. Corn flour - 2 tsp.
9. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
10. Salt to taste.

Method :

For the chilly soya :

1. Soak the soya nuggets in hot water for about 15 mins until it is completely puffed up.Remove it from hot water and run it under cold water and squeeze gently.Put it in strainer and keep it aside.
2. Make very thick batter with rest of the ingredients using water .
3. Mix the soya with the batter and bake it in oven at 200 degree Celsius for about 20 mintues .

For the Sauce :

1. Heat oil in a pan and once you see the smoke , add garlic and ginger , fry it until it turns into brown colour.
2. Then add onion and capsicum and fry until onion turns slightly brown .
3. Mix the cornflour water and make a paste and add it to the pan.
4. Add soya sauce, tomato sauce, chilly powder and about 1 cup of water and bring it to boil.
5. Finally add the baked soya , spring onions ( i dint because it was out of stock but still it tasted goo , it will taste better with spring onions).

Broken Wheat Vadai

This is the best vadai I have ever had so far. Though I go back one foot away from anything that is deep fried , this one is sure one guilt free recipe. It doesn't drink so much oil and moreover it is made of wheat with full of fibre and versatile too.Versatile because you can have it like curd vadai as well :).
When Sharmi announced Tea Time Snack Event I cant think of anything better than this.This straight goes to her event.

Ingredients :

1. Broken wheat - 2 cups
2. Small onions - 10 nos.
3. Grated coconut - 6 tbspn
4. Red chillies - 6 nos.
5. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
6. Salt to Taste
7. Oil to deep fry.

Method :

1. Soak Broken wheat for 15 mins and then grind it along with all other ingredients without any water.Batter should be really thick.
2. Then pat the batter little thicker than masal vada on a plastic sheet and slid it into hot oil to deep fry.
3. Slip vada one after the other otherwise they will stick to each other .
4. Once the vada puffs up , just turn it to the other side and will be done .

How to Eat :

1. It tastes good by itself .
2. You can have it along with chutney also.
3. You can soak it in curd and make it like curd vadai. 
4. Cut the vadai and drizzle few drops of ghee into it and can be had.
5. You can have it by stuffing chopped onions,chopped green chillies, grated carrot,coriander leaves mixed with lime juice also.

Oven Roasted Elephant Yam

I havent tasted elephant Yam for a long time after I got itching all over my hand while cutting it . Now suddenly got to taste in a wedding lunch and I am so fallen in love with it.
I just got introduced to this veggie and trust me you will fall in love too .My pictures wouldnt have done justice to this but it tasted so well , that crispy outer layer with meaty texture inside will no longer make me crave for non veg.
This has alreadt started making its way to my kitchen every sunday.:)...

Ingrdients :
Elephant Yam - 1 cup
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp.
Lime juice - 1 tsp.
Corn flour - 1 tsp.
Chilli powder - 1 tbsn.
Coriander powder - 1 tbsn.
Garam masala - 1 tsp.
Salt to taste .

Method :

• Cut elephant yam into meidum thick slices like a brittania biscuit.( sorry cant think of anything else).Please wear hand gloves while cutting to avoid the juice of the yam coming in contact with your skin . This is damn itchy.
• Put in water and bring it to couple of boils.Make sure it doesnt get mushy . If you poke with fork , it should poke easily but still firm.
• Then drain it in a strainer and sprinkle all the ingredients and mix it thoroughly so as to coat the pieces well.
• Now grease a baking tray and arrange these slices and brush the pieces with oil. 
• Bake it a 180 degrees for 15 mins and then turn to grill mode and grill it for 8 mins or until it gets crispy.

Notes :

• Adding lime juice and turmeric is essential to prevent your throat from itching.
• Add generous amount of salt and chilli powder , you can also add your choice of spices.
• Serve immediately out of the oven or it get soggy. You can bake it a while ago and grill it before you serve is also a good opiton.

Khaman Dhokla

I am so beaming with joy today which I have almost forgotten in last 2 days after having some terrible attempts at baking. Yes, I have got the perfect dhokla that I wanted .
I am always little apprehensive to eat food even if it is tastier if loaded with calories.Yes, I am a lazy bum to burn out all those calories.Instead I prefer not to eat it. This is one such food where you dont have to worry about the calories and feel filled too .
I have been trying this recipe for quite sometime now in microwave but I have never got it right until I pressure cook them. A bunch of thanks to srivall and DK for bringing out the recipe.
Here is my the recipe :

Ingredients :

For Batter:

1. Besan Flour - 1 1/2 cups
2. Curd - 1/2 cup
3. Water - 1/2 cup
4. Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp.
5. Ginger - 1 small piece
6. Green chilly - 2 nos.
7. Oil - 2 tsp.
8. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp.
9. Salt to taste.
10. Sugar - 1 tbsn.
11. Citric crystals - 1/4 tsp
12. Eno Salt - 1 1/4 tsp

For Tempering :

1. Oil - 2 tsp.
2. Mustard seeds - 2 tsp.
3. Green chillies - 3 nos.
4. Curry leaves - few

Garnishing :

1. coconut grated - 2 tbsn.
2. Coriander Leaves - 2 tsp.

Method :

1. Mix flour,salt, curd,water and baking soda and keep it aside for an hour.
2. Now the bater would have risen a bit , add to it ginger and green chilly paste,oil,turmeric powder,salt,sugar,citric crystals and mix thoroughly.
3. Grease a thali , I have used 8 inch baking pan and dust eno salt all over the pan.
4. Now add Eno salt immediately to the batter, stir it gently with a ladle around 2- 3 times and pout into the greased pan.
5. Place it in a pressure cooker and steam it for exactly 9 mins and test check with a tooth pick.If it comes out clean its done. 
6. Now remove the pan off the stove and pour 3 tbsn water over the pan . let it cool for 2 - 3 mins and invert the pan. dhokla would slid off easily.
7. Now tamper the seasonings and put it all over the dhokla.
8. Cut it into desired shapes and serve it with Green chutney and tamatind chutney.

Notes :

1. Mix 2 tbsn of oil to the batter will make it more froathy.
2. Add Eno salt just before pouring it into the pan.
3. Sprinking water on dhokla after it is done will make it very moist. 

Raagi Roti

Raagi roti has become Hari's recent obsession, I dont know why. It is his normal practice to ask for his favourite food immediately after returning from the US. He mostly asks only for Lemon sevai or dosa .But this time he was like almost pestered me to make this Raagi roti specially when I had a guest at home. I tried explaining him so much that Ragi roti is not a rich food and will not look good if I serve her this. He got irritated with my explanation and stopped talking to me. Then Finally I had to make it for him . Nothing like seeing him enjoing his food.
I hope you guys enjoy this roti as well . Its pretty simple to make ofcourse this blog is all about simple recipes.
Even if you are not on dieting spree , I am sure you would relish this roti.

Ingredients :

1. Ragi Flour - 2 cups
2. Water - 2 cups
3. Gingelly oil - 2 tsp
4. Salt to taste
5. Onion - 1 big
6. Green chillies - 5 nos.
7. Coriander leaves - 1 small bunch

Method :

1. Heat water in a wide pan and bring it to boil along with oil and salt.
2. Once water starts boiling immediately add flour and mix well.Flour will absorb all the water and comes into a dough consistency in a minute.Remove the pan off the stove and let it cool.
3. Now chop onions,green chillies, coriander leaves and add it to the above pan and knead it slightly like a dough. This should not take you more than 2 minutes.
4. Then pinch a big roundel from the dough , place it on a greased plastic sheet or aluminium foil and place one more polythene sheet over the roundel.Now take a plate and press the roundel , it will spread like a chappathi.Now you take a rolling pin and roll it like a chappathi with the plastic sheet on.
5. Take off the polythene sheet , gently remove the rolled roti from the foil and place it on dosa tawa, cook it on medium flame on both sides.

Notes :

1. You can replace any leafy veggie like drumstick leaves,dill leaves for coriander.That would make this roti even more healthier.
2. You can also add grated coconut to make it much tastier.
3. Need not smear oil when cooking as you have already greased the plastic sheet.
4. Roll it out as thin as possible to get it cooked fast.This should be easy as I dont find any difficulty in rolling it out thin.
5. This 2 cups made about 10 Rotis.
6. I used approximately 1 tsp. of salt for 2 cups of flour.
7. Peanut chutney is my choice for this roti.

Coconut Poha

I dont know why poha is not so popular as oats given its nutritional facts. Poha is usually had when fasting as it doesnt hurt your stomach when you are starving.It is easily digestable .

This has only half amount of calories that is in broken wheat, less calories than oats .. This is surely one of the comforting foods for me.

More importantly this is so easy to cook . It hardly takes ten minutes to finish off everything without compromising on the taste. 

This is one of the healthier versions . Yes, I only recently came to know that coconut if not fried is very good for health. hee hee ... 

Ingredients :

1. Poha - 2 cups
2. Oil - 2 tsp.
3. Mustard - 1/8th tsp.
4. Broken urad dhal - 1/2 tsp.
5. Channa dhal - 1/2 tsp.
6. Cashews - 1/2 tsp ( optional if you are not weight consicious , enjoy it )
7. Onion - 1 small size 
8. Green chillies - 4 nos.
9. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
10. Curry leaves - few
11. Salt to Taste
12. Coconut - 4 tbspn.

Method :

1. I used medium thick poha , so i just washed and drained the water completely and left it in strainer for about 5 minutes.
2. Heat a pan , add oil , once hot is enough, splash mustard and wait for the seeds to pop out.
3. Immediately add urad dhal, channa dhal and fry till they turn slightly brown.
4. Add onion and saute onion for few minutes.
5. Add green chillies,cumin seeds and curry leaves fry for a minute.
6. Now add washed poha to it and salt,fry until all seasonings mix well .
7. Turn off the stove but when the pan still on the stove , mix grated coconut into the pan.

Notes :

1. Serve it by drizzling little ghee only if you are not very weight consicious.It tastes good even without that.
2. One cup of poha will suffice one person.
3. Approximately 1/2 tsp. salt should be ok for one cup of poha. 
4. Add cumin seeds only after adding onion , this gives a completely different flavour.
5. I would say cumin and coconut are the hero and heroine of this recipe.

Chettinadu Mushroom

If there is one cuisine that I can die for is this chettinadu cooking.Chettinad is famous for two things.One is the beautiful house and their cuisine.I have lived in chennai for a couple of years and the only good thing that had happened to me in chennai was staying next to karaikudi restaurant.
The aroma from the kitchen only make my kneels go week.I have known chettinadu cuisine only from the restaurants and have never tasted any at home kitchen. So my version of chettiandu mushroom will closely resemble the restaurant style .
Of late I have become addicted to photography though dont know anything about it.Thats funny right? I am hoping to improve on this :)
Lets go to the recipe straight

Ingredients :

1. Ginegelly Oil - 2 tbsp.
2. Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
3. Clove - 2 nos.
4. Bay leaf - 1 no.
5. Fennel Seeds - 1 tspn.
6. Small onion - 20 nos.
7. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp.
8. Turmericpowder - 1/2 tsp.
9. Tomato - 1 no.
10. Mushroom - 200 gms.
11. Coriander Powder - 2 tbsn.
12. Chilli powder - 1 tbsn.
13. Salt to taste.

To be ground :

1. Grated Coconut - 3 tbsn.
2. Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp.
3. Kus Kus (poppy seeds) - 2tsp.
4. Cashenut -2 
5. Cardamom - 1 no.
6. Clove - 1 no.

Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan and once it is hot enough , add cinnamon,bayleaf,clove,fennel seeds and fry until you see a slight change in color of the spices.
2. Now add chopped onions and fry unti onion turns light brown color.
3. Immediately ginger garlic paste and saute for about 30 seconds.
4. Add tomotoes, chilli powder,coriander powder and salt , cook until oil leaves the sides.
5. Now add mushrooms , stir it once and close with lid.Mushroom leaves lots of water, so cook until all the water is evaporated.
6. Add the ground paste with a glass of water and simmer it for 7 minutes.If the gravy is too thick after 7 minutes , add some more water and cook for another 2 minutes.If the gravy is watery add corinader powder and make it thick.

Note :

1. I used poppy seeds to the ground mixture, but it was not smooth.I was okay with it as it is not fatty yet thickens the gravy with nice aroma.If you dont like grainy mixture, substitue 4 cashews for 2 tsp of poppy seeds.:)
2. This will be perfect for idly or Kal dosa.

Thengai Maavu alias Rice Puttu

Ok this is no new recipe to any one but the name .

If you are an ardent  lover of puttu but you dont have puttu maker at home , try it with idli tawa and your puttu is ready.

You can either have it with kadala curry or just drizzle a few drops of ghee and mix it with sugar , you will be in heaven. Sweet is my preference .
My interpretation as to how puttu has reached a village :
My grandma is from a small village  That is such a remote area. Those days they used to make something similar to puttu not with a puttu maker , probably fetching a puttu maker for them was not possible , so they used make it in idli tawa. They call it thengai maavu simple because it consists of coconut( thengai) and Flour(maavu).I am still wondering how puttu recipe has reached that village at that era.Perhaps,somebody from keralite has lost his way and got settled in that place and taught them this brilliant recipe.

Ingredients :

1. Rice Flour - 1 cup
2. Coconut - 1/2 cup
3. Sugar - 2 tbsn.
4. Ghee - 1 tsp.
5. Salt to taste
6. Warm Water - 3 - 4 tbspn.

Method :

1. Mix salt with water .
2. Sprinkle water on the flour and mix it nicely until you get crumbles .When you take a fistful of flour in hand , you should be able to make a ball and when you drop it , it should crumble back. This is the right consistency. 
3. Arrange this flour and coconut in alternate layers in idli tawa on a thali and steam it for about 12 mins. 
4. Once it is cooked , serve it with ghee and sugar.

Beetroot Rice

Beetroot Rice :

Ingredients

• Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
• Water - 2 cups
• Beetroot - 1 big 
• Onion - 1 no
• Garlic - 4 pods
• Ginger - small piece
• Coriander and Mint leaves - 1 small bunch
• Green chillies - 4 nos.
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp.
• Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
• Cardamom - 2 nos
• Clove - 2 
• Bay leaf - 1 
• Ghee - 3 tbsn.
• Salt to taste

Method :

• Boil Rice in water upto 3/4th done along with salt, green chillies and cardamom.Keep it aside.
• Take a kadai , add ghee and once it is hot ,add cinnamon.clove,bay leaf,onion and fry  till onion becomes golden colour.
• Add grated ginger, garlic, corainder , mint leaves, garam masala and saute for 2 mins. 
• Add grated beetroot and salt and cook until beetroot is cooked well.
• Now layer rice and beetroot mixture and bake it in oven at 180 degrees for 18 mins. 

Serve it with papad and Raita .

Aishu's Low Calorie Vada Curry

I am not cooking at all as I am at amma's place and literally doing only eating and sleeping 24 hrs. If it stretches for another 10 days , I would forget how to boil water leave alone cooking.

Anyway, my friend Aishwarya , a great cook by herself who constantly encourages me in blogging by trying out my recipes and coming out with good feedback everytime I post , immediately said yes when I asked her to contribute a post. Aishu, I owe you so much.Thanks a ton sweet heart for trying so much to keep my blog alive.:)

I am getting lots of brickbats for my sinful mushroom kurma for having included it in so called health conscious blog, so will try to limit myself only to the healthier ones from now on. Thanks once again for keeping in mind about this space and coming up with perfect recipe Aishu.

Looking forward to more such recipes from you da ;)..Lets get into today's recipe:


Ingredients:
Channa  dal-1cup
Onion-2
Cloves-2
Cinnamon stick-1
Fennel seeds 2tsps
Chilli powder
Garam  masala powder-1/2tsp
Turmeric powder
Salt
Tamarind pulp -1-11/2tbsps
Milk or coconut milk-1/2 cup

Method;

Soak dhal for about 2 hours and drain water completely. Grind the dhal coarsely in a mixer. Do not add water while grinding. Grease a plate with oil and spread this dhal mixture and steam in a pressure cooker for 15 mins.  Cool and cut into small squares or give a couple of churns in a mixer.
In a kadai heat oil. To it add cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds and onion. When onion turns light brown add tamarind pulp and all the powders. Boil till the raw smell disappears. Now add the dhal pieces and boil well. Lastly add the milk and check the consistency. Consistency must be like thick gravy. Do not boil much after adding milk. Remove from fire and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Dates Cake

As you all know , baking has been my recent passion which helped me to put on like 3 kgs in a month . Ok, wouldnt definitely put the blame completely on this goodies but I should also have tried to burn out those extra calories. Yes, I have become a lazy bum in this last one month as if I was hyper active before. I was baking atleast once in 2 days and mostly chocolate cakes to the extent that I have already starteed hating it now. But I dont want to stop baking and tried this one , trust me this is the most simplest and deadliest cake in the world I should say.

I have seen this in Aayi's recipes and immediately wanted to put my hands on it just because it demanded very less ingredients. I made it thrice in 2 days .. can you believe it?..Good that not many of my folks heard about it and now its become my signature dessert ..hee hee ...Thanks a lot shilpa ..

Ingredients : ( Its become by heart now)

1. Maida - 1 cup
2. Sugar - 3/4 cup
3. dates - 18 nos.
4. Refined sunflower oil - 1/2 cup
5. Milk - 3/4 cup
6. Baking Powder - 1 tsp.( If baking soda is used cake is really dense) .

Method :

1. Soak dates in warm milk overnight and remove the seeds and grind it smooth .
2. Add sugar to the above mixture and run the mixie for sometime. To this add oil and give a couple of runs.
3. Sieve maida and baking soda thrice.
4. In a big bowl, to the dates and sugar mixture, add seived dry ingredients tbsn. by tbsp. mixing it slowly after each spoon.( I used hand mixer and mixed it at low speed).
5. Bake it at 180 degree for about 25 mins. 

The most yummiest cake is done . 

Bisebelabath

Bisibelabath, typical kannadiga food is my all time favourite. I find even an average hotel in bangalore will have fantastic kara baath and bisibelabaath. Every hotel will almost have the same taste but woody's in bangalore is the best.So, since then attempted BBB so many times royally only to end up kichadi.

I got this recipe from Viki's kitchen, I followed the recipe for powder to the dot, though I made a few changes in making rice according to my taste and guess what I have finally got this authentic BBB.. Oh boy I just cant believe this tasted so yummyyyyy.. 

This tastes even better when served with potato chips.

For Rice :

Ingredients :

Step 1:

1. Raw Rice - 3/4 cup
2. toor dhal - 1/2 cup
3. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp.
4. Ghee - 1/2 tsp.
5. Water - 4 cups

Step 2:

1. Carrot - 2 no.
2. Peas - 1/2 cup
3. Potato - 1 no.
4. Beans - 10 no.
5. Tamarind - 2 inch 
6. small onion - 6 nos.
7. Ghee - 3 tbsp.
8. Mustard - 1/2 tsp
9. Hing - a pinch
10. Curry leaves - few

For Powder :

1. Channa dal - 3 tsp.
2. Urad Dal - 3 tsp.
3. Coriander seeds - 3 tsp.
4. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
5. Pepper - 10
6. Fenugreek seeds - 5
7. Poppy seed - 1 tsp.
8. Dry Red chilly - 5
9. Clove - 2
10. Cardamom- 2
11. Cinnamon stick - 2 inch 
12. Dry coconut - 3 tbsn.

Method : 

1. Boil everthing given under step 1 in a pressure cooker for 4 whistles,
2. In an another pressure cooker, Heat oil and temper it with mustard seeds, curry leaves,onion , hing and once onion turns into light pink , add the vegetables and tamraind extract given under step 2 and pressure cook it for upto one whistle. 
3. Let the pressure comes down in both, meanwhile get the powder ready.
4. Dry roast all ingredients given under step 3 and cool it and powder it.
5. Now add the mixture in step 2 ,BBB powder and salt to the pressure cooker with rice and dal and bring it to a boil . simmer it and let it cook for other 5 minutes. 

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honey mustard sauce pasta salad

I know its been really long and missed out all the goodies in the world . I promise to catch up with everything that I missed.
My next post is never going to come I think . It was supposed to be sent for preetis his cooking event but unfortunately hari dint have enough time to give me the recipe or he might not have wanted to give his kitchen secrets;)
Whatever , I cant wait for my blog to starve for some good food.
I recently happened to have this honey mustard sauce salad in Namdhari and I just gone crazy over it. Its that good. Then googled and googled but still all recipes demanded ingredients that I hardly heard of. Then I tried this version and it almost matched the salad I had.
If anybody knows the name of the salad you are most welcome to share it here :)..

Very simple, chat pat and healthier version also.

Ingredients:

1. Pasta - 1 cup

Mayonnaise - 6 tbsn.( I used eggless )
Mustard Sauce - 1 tbsn.
Honey - 2 tbsn.
Sweet corn - 1/2 cup( you can also add brocolli, babycorn, capsicum )

Method

1. Boil pasta as per packet instructions.
2. Boil sweet corn .
3. Mix mayonnaise, mustard sauce and honey together.(you will get pouring consistency)
4. Mix everything together and refrigerate for an hour . 

There you go. your simple recipe tastes divine. 

Khandvi Rolls - Microwave method

Oh yeah I can see you all wondering , this blog is supposed to have only simple recipes ??!!!
Hee Hee , but this is definitely one of the easiest  recipes .If I myself have moved my butt to cook this , I am sure anybody in this world can make it just like that . It is thaatttt easy and need I say its more healthy and good for calorie counters and wait watchers. Perfect snack .

I have to say here the story behind me trying it . I showed the picture of this khandvi Rolls to Hari and said , Hari tomorrow I am making this . He gave one look which almost crushed me to pieces. He suddenly realising my reaction said ' If you get it perfectly I would give you a diamond ring ' . He is over confident that I will not be able to make it .When I have made it , you should have seen his eyes that popped out , that shows a kind of pride also .

Well lets get into the recipe

Ingredients :

For the Roll :

1. Besan Flour - 1 cup
2. Butter milk - 21/2 cups
3. Aesafotida - a small pinch
4. Salt - 1 tsp.
5. Green chillies - 1 no.
6. Ginger - 1/4 " piece

For the stuffing :

1. Coconut - 1 cup
2. Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp.
3. Sugar - 1 tsp.

Method :

1. Grind chilli and ginger together.
2. Mix all ingredients given under Roll in a blender until no lumps are found.
3. Keep it in microwave at high for 2 mins and remove it and again blend it nicely until you see no lumps over there.
4. Do the step 3 for totally 3 times , by then mixture would have become to a nice thick consistency . 
5. Immediately spread the mixture on an aluminium foil with any flat ladle . 
6. Leave it for 5 mins and then sprinkle the coconut filling all over the spread. 
7. Cut into small strips and then slowly roll .
8. If you want you can season it and garnish with coriander leaves. (I dint because wanted to make it oil free)

Special Care to make it without any hassle :

1. Make besan flour : buttermilk Ratio as 1 : 2.5
2. Dont spread it thinly for the first time , you will find it difficult to roll as it has some stuffing. 
3. Spread it evenly, this is the most important step , otherwise roll will be broken half way. 
4. I would recommend you to spread on an aluminium foil as you can lift the paper on its side and slowly take off the sides of the spread and roll it easily. 
5. Keep your finger absolutely clean before starting to roll every strip. 
6. Spread the whole mixture immediately out the of the oven , else they will become too thick and starts to crumble. 

carrot Cake

As you all know, this blog mainly concenterates on healthy wealthy, easy peasy recipes and there is no room for frosting cakes. So, googled and googled and finally landed on a recipe which hardly had any procedures for the novice baker like me. So what,I am  attempting to bake for the second time and I have learnt enough   after roasting the perfect chocolate cake at the very first time( please anybody once again announce an event for mishaps with a prize , no boundary limits though.. I have so many entries for that event waiting with  full of confidence to win the prize ) .  I just love baking ( hardly baked more than thrice ), but most of the cakes demand either a sack of butter or frosting which I definitely cant afford to. But this one is simple , quick and extremely healthy but u need to add eggs though.

Losing weight is easy but maintaining that is extremely difficult that too for a food lover like me. So balancing betwen your tongue and mind and brain in food is really tough . This cake is definitely one guilt free indulgence , it doesnt require frosting , it tastes so good by itself .

Recipe goes

Ingredients :

All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup ( I added 1 cup and I found it was very sweet for the carrot cake )
Eggs - 2 nos.
Cooking Oil - 1/2 cup ( I used sunflower refined oil )
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp.
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp.
Cinnamon powder - 3/4 tsp.
Nutmeg Powder - 1/4 tsp.
Salt - 1/2 tsp.
Carrot - 11/2 Cups.

Method :

1. Sift flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder thrice and keep it aside.
2. Beat eggs well and then add sugar gradually and beat until light . Now add oil and beat for another minute.
3. Stir in the sifted flour and finally add carrot and stir until mixed properly.
4. Grease a baking tin and bake at 180 C for about 30 mins.Please dont open and prick before even 15 mins as I did( I dint stop with one , pricked 3 -4 times in  5 mins only stopped pricking it when my cake goes down a bit) , then your cake will tend to go down  as it lets cool air circulates. Let it bake for about 20 mins then insert a tooth pick to see if it comes out clean . 
5. Let in cool in tin for about 15 mins and then remove it from pan and cool it completely on wire rack. 

Cake was too good but not without any flaws . But for the second time it was quite good. 

Verdict : Cake was too good . But if it is for the kids, I would advise you to avoid those cinnamon and nutmeg powder only not to hear comments like masala cake . I understand now that most of the children dont like this masala taste in cakes.