Binge on Veg !!!

Best Cocoa Brownie

2011-05-10T15:31:00.000+05:30

I know I know , its been such a long time since I posted something .I was not even sure if I would ever come back to blogging until I meet fellow bloggers Madhs, Suma and Geetha .. Oh god what to say , they are so enthusiastic, energetic and passionate about what they do. If you are there with them for a minute , you just cant seem to be lazing around ..
So after meeting with Vibrant ladies , I am all set to be back , I am not sure if I can be frequent but definitely will try to be active ..Since only we two of us , I cook, bake and whatever only for Hari and for his taste .Oh yeah I must say he has got a pretty bad tongue to say only OK to almost everything I make .. You at times feel lucky to have a husband who knows cooking but its actually the other way round .
Hari is a chocoholic , that doesnt mean he eats anything that is chocolatey ... He can have it only if it is RICH Chocolatey .. be it a cake or brownie and he likes ONLY chocolate flavor .anything other than rich chocolatey doesnt count as special .So decided to make a brownie for his Birthday .
Thankfully this Brownie turned out to be super perfect . It exactly satisfied Hari's tongue , was very easy for me to make as well and most of all you can make this with the ingredients in your hand .. I have tried a couple of times Tarla dalal's eggless brownie with Dark chocolate .though I liked the taste it always seems to be too greasy . Thats one of the richest brownies tastewise..so wanted to make something similar and with cocoa powder.. I came across best cocoa brownies at smittenkitchen and knew for sure this is what i was looking for .. It is indeed so rich and fudgy ..

I tweaked the recipe to make it even more easier .here it goes ..

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter( I used salted butter and skipped salt)
1 1/4 cups sugar ( I used powdered sugar)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)(I used cadburys cocoa)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cold large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Method

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. (I used Microwave convection mode , so just used the rack given for baking) Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite side

Melt the butter in a medium sized bowl in microwave for a minute and then combine the sugar, cocoa and salt and mix it nicely and again microwave for a minute .Now the mixture will be really smooth . Even if it is not smooth , its fine go ahead ..

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.I baked exactly for 25 mins and let it cool completely for about 6 hours .

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Yumma max .. You can have the brownie as it is or can make it more sinful by adding a scoop of vanilla icecream and drizzling some chocolate sauce ..

Geethu's Caramel Custard - Guest post

2010-11-12T16:34:00.002+05:30

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

2010-11-09T23:34:00.000+05:30

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 :

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

Method :

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

Notes :

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

Badusha with Diwali Wishes

2010-11-05T01:13:00.000+05:30

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

2010-11-03T18:31:00.000+05:30

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 :

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

Method :

Grate the chocolate and put all the ingredients except pistas into a heavy bottomed pan.
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 .
Pour it into a 6 inch rectangular pan lined with foil .
Let it cool and then keep it in refridgerator for about 2 hours. by then fudge would have all set well.
Cut it into desired shapes. Immediately put it back into the freezer.
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

2010-11-02T23:39:00.000+05:30

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 :

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

Method :

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.
Powder the sugar and keep it aside.
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.
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

2010-10-28T22:01:00.000+05:30

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:

White oats - 1 1/2 cups
Wheat Rava - 1/2 cup.
Butter milk - 1 cup
Grated Carrot - 1/2 cup
finely chopped green chillies - 2 nos.
Coriander leaves - few
Big onion - 1 no.
Eno salt - 1 1/4 tsp.
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Channa dal - 1/2 tsp.
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric powder
Oil - 1 tsp.
salt to taste

Method :

Roast the oats for about a minute.
Heat a pan , add oil and season it with mustard seeds, channa dhal, urad dhal.
Add onion and fry till it changes colour .
Add green chillies, onion, curry leaves, turmeric powder and saute for few seconds.
Add this fried mixture into oats and Rawa .
Add buttermilk and salt and nicely mix.
Finally add grated carrots.
The consistency should be of idli batter. If the butter milk is not enough , can add some more water to adjust the consistency.
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

2010-10-20T16:56:00.000+05:30

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 :

Sweet corn - 1 cup
Onion - 1 big
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp.
Tomato - 1 big
chilly powder - 1 tsp.
coriander powder - 1/2 tsp.
cumin powder - 1/4 tsp.
kasoor methi - 1/4 tsp.
Skimmed Milk - 2/3 cup
corn flour - 1 tsp.
oil - 1 tsp.
salt to taste.
sugar - a pinch

Method :

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

Notes :

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

Simple Dhal recipe

2010-10-01T12:16:00.000+05:30

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 :

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

Method :

Pressure cook dhal upto 3 whistle along with sambhar powder and keep it aside.
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.
Now add chopped garlic, tomato, green chilly, and salt . Fry until tomato is completely cooked .
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

2010-09-15T08:36:00.000+05:30

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 :

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

Method :

Heat oil in a wide pan and once it reaches smoking hot , add onion and saute till onion turns translucent.
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.
Then reduce the flame to sim , add curry leaves, pepper powder, salt and cook uncovered for about 15 mins stirring in between .
Mushroom will get kind of roasted and the curry leaves gives superb flavour to the fry .

Notes :

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 .
Pepper powder can be adjusted according to taste.
Capsicum can also be used to give extra flavour and the quantity.

Raagi Sevai

2010-09-08T22:02:00.000+05:30

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 :

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

Method :

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.
Then knead it well once the mixture is cooled down .
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

2010-08-26T12:00:00.013+05:30

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 :

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

Wet Ingredients :

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

Method :

Mix all the dry ingredients including apple and keep it aside.
Now mix the wet ingredients and stir in the dry mixture slowly until well blended.
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

2010-08-24T14:47:00.000+05:30

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 :

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

For the Sauce :

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

Method :

For the chilly soya :

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.
Make very thick batter with rest of the ingredients using water .
Mix the soya with the batter and bake it in oven at 200 degree Celsius for about 20 mintues .

For the Sauce :

Heat oil in a pan and once you see the smoke , add garlic and ginger , fry it until it turns into brown colour.
Then add onion and capsicum and fry until onion turns slightly brown .
Mix the cornflour water and make a paste and add it to the pan.
Add soya sauce, tomato sauce, chilly powder and about 1 cup of water and bring it to boil.
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

2010-08-18T21:33:00.002+05:30

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 :

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

Method :

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

How to Eat :

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

Oven Roasted Elephant Yam

2010-08-16T12:00:00.001+05:30

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

2010-08-13T12:00:00.000+05:30

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:

Besan Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Curd - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp.
Ginger - 1 small piece
Green chilly - 2 nos.
Oil - 2 tsp.
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste.
Sugar - 1 tbsn.
Citric crystals - 1/4 tsp
Eno Salt - 1 1/4 tsp

For Tempering :

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

Garnishing :

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

Method :

Mix flour,salt, curd,water and baking soda and keep it aside for an hour.
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.
Grease a thali , I have used 8 inch baking pan and dust eno salt all over the pan.
Now add Eno salt immediately to the batter, stir it gently with a ladle around 2- 3 times and pout into the greased pan.
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.
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.
Now tamper the seasonings and put it all over the dhokla.
Cut it into desired shapes and serve it with Green chutney and tamatind chutney.

Notes :

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

Raagi Roti

2010-08-11T12:00:00.006+05:30

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 :

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

Method :

Heat water in a wide pan and bring it to boil along with oil and salt.
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.
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.
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.
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 :

You can replace any leafy veggie like drumstick leaves,dill leaves for coriander.That would make this roti even more healthier.
You can also add grated coconut to make it much tastier.
Need not smear oil when cooking as you have already greased the plastic sheet.
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.
This 2 cups made about 10 Rotis.
I used approximately 1 tsp. of salt for 2 cups of flour.
Peanut chutney is my choice for this roti.

Coconut Poha

2010-08-09T12:00:00.000+05:30

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 :

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

Method :

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

Notes :

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

Chettinadu Mushroom

2010-08-06T11:10:00.000+05:30

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 :

Ginegelly Oil - 2 tbsp.
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
Clove - 2 nos.
Bay leaf - 1 no.
Fennel Seeds - 1 tspn.
Small onion - 20 nos.
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp.
Turmericpowder - 1/2 tsp.
Tomato - 1 no.
Mushroom - 200 gms.
Coriander Powder - 2 tbsn.
Chilli powder - 1 tbsn.
Salt to taste.

To be ground :

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

Method :

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.
Now add chopped onions and fry unti onion turns light brown color.
Immediately ginger garlic paste and saute for about 30 seconds.
Add tomotoes, chilli powder,coriander powder and salt , cook until oil leaves the sides.
Now add mushrooms , stir it once and close with lid.Mushroom leaves lots of water, so cook until all the water is evaporated.
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 :

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.:)
This will be perfect for idly or Kal dosa.

Thengai Maavu alias Rice Puttu

2010-08-05T12:45:00.000+05:30

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 :

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

Method :

Mix salt with water .
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.
Arrange this flour and coconut in alternate layers in idli tawa on a thali and steam it for about 12 mins.
Once it is cooked , serve it with ghee and sugar.

Beetroot Rice

2010-08-03T16:02:00.000+05:30

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

2010-07-28T02:00:00.000+05:30

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

2010-07-12T14:54:00.000+05:30

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)

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

Method :

Soak dates in warm milk overnight and remove the seeds and grind it smooth .
Add sugar to the above mixture and run the mixie for sometime. To this add oil and give a couple of runs.
Sieve maida and baking soda thrice.
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).
Bake it at 180 degree for about 25 mins.

The most yummiest cake is done .

Bisebelabath

2010-07-09T13:52:00.000+05:30

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:

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

Step 2:

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

For Powder :

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

Method :

Boil everthing given under step 1 in a pressure cooker for 4 whistles,
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.
Let the pressure comes down in both, meanwhile get the powder ready.
Dry roast all ingredients given under step 3 and cool it and powder it.
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.

honey mustard sauce pasta salad

2010-06-30T15:39:00.000+05:30

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:

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

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

There you go. your simple recipe tastes divine.

Khandvi Rolls - Microwave method

2010-05-27T12:48:00.000+05:30

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 :

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

For the stuffing :

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

Method :

Grind chilli and ginger together.
Mix all ingredients given under Roll in a blender until no lumps are found.
Keep it in microwave at high for 2 mins and remove it and again blend it nicely until you see no lumps over there.
Do the step 3 for totally 3 times , by then mixture would have become to a nice thick consistency .
Immediately spread the mixture on an aluminium foil with any flat ladle .
Leave it for 5 mins and then sprinkle the coconut filling all over the spread.
Cut into small strips and then slowly roll .
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 :

Make besan flour : buttermilk Ratio as 1 : 2.5
Dont spread it thinly for the first time , you will find it difficult to roll as it has some stuffing.
Spread it evenly, this is the most important step , otherwise roll will be broken half way.
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.
Keep your finger absolutely clean before starting to roll every strip.
Spread the whole mixture immediately out the of the oven , else they will become too thick and starts to crumble.

carrot Cake

2010-05-21T12:03:00.000+05:30

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 :

Sift flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder thrice and keep it aside.
Beat eggs well and then add sugar gradually and beat until light . Now add oil and beat for another minute.
Stir in the sifted flour and finally add carrot and stir until mixed properly.
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 .
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.

Mushroom Kurma

2010-05-18T22:32:00.000+05:30

For a non vegeterian converted into vegeterian like me , its really very tough to give up that non veg taste.And for me , the best substitutes are mushrooms and soya nuggets.But if you are a non vegeterian evnthough not a hard core , I would recommend you to substitute mushroom with chicken . That would be incredible.
Again a warning , This is one for a street food buff like me or who always ogled at them but restrained from eating only on hygenic point of view, then this one is a sure try. I dont know why I always like eating at street food licking my fingers more than some food in a posh restaurant with spoons and forks . I probably was a dog in the last birth , the impact still hangers in this birth as well I guess.
Back in native, the only outside food allowed at home is parotta, apparently because Karur is known for its parotta accompanied with this luscious kozhambu. Being in bangalore, getting a parotta itself is a big deal , leave alone this scrumptious kurma accompaniment and since me having used to this non veg kurma , I am not able to accustom to the vegetable kurma provided at hotel . They are too very vegetiranish . So, I tried this substituting with mushrooms and it turned out as good as I get in Karur.
This parotta has a special style of eating as well.Please get to the last para to know how to eat this .:D ..

Let me get into the recipe :

Ingredients :

Mushroom - 200 gms
Bay leaf - 1
Onion - 2 nos.
Tomato - 1
Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tsp.
Coconut scrapped - 1 cup
Everest Sabzi/chicken masala - 3 tsp.
Coriander powder - 2 tsp.
Chilli powder - 2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Oil - 3 tsp.

Method :

Heat a pan and oil , once oil is hot enough add bay leaf and onion , fry onion untill it turns golden brown.
Then add ginger garlic paste and saute for few seconds.
Add mushroom and fry for a minute.
Now add tomato , all masala powder and salt and fry until oil leaves on its sides.
Grind scrapped coconut and add it to the above mixture and add enough water and boil it nicely.
Consistency of the kurma is to be really thin , so that parotta gets soaked up well.

How to eat :

Tear the parotta into small pieces and then pour this kurma enough to soak those pieces well . Let it soak for a minute and then just binge on this .

This is the only food in the world which i never get bored of . Its really hard to keep up with your diet plan if you get a craving for parotta. Trust me I will have to run 20 mins more next day to even up for this binge.

Superman's Chole masala

2010-05-16T15:33:00.000+05:30

Hey guys am back after my not well exams but fully charged up and more enthusiastic than before I should say . As you all know, His Cooking event is going on hosted by Priti Singh. I was eagerly waiting for my exams to get over just to post all my Superman's Recipes .

When Priti announced this event, I like a child went to him and said ' Hari, His cooking event is going on and I want you to contribute some ( not one ;) atleast to keep my blog alive . He was so happy as if he was waiting for this for so long . Yeah I should have got a hint when he was looking at me with one evil smile when mailing my friends asking them to contribute some recipes . I could see the happiness on his face when I asked him , but immediately his ego man popped up and acted ' what will I get if I cook for your blog ' . I said I can show everybody how great a cook you are . ( Frankly, I never wanted others to know that he is a better cook than me :D) .
I have almost forgotten about this event , immediately after exams are over, he said tomorrow I want to cook. I have never let him cook in the last 1 year and am sure I have deprived him of his pleasure of cooking and domintaing me. I said yes because he promised to get me food processor.
Well, morning he got up a way before me and was in the kitchen cooking something.I lazily got out of the bed to see what he was doing. He had almost finished everything and I absolutely dint do anything.
I blew out of the air when he said softly ' GET YOUR CAMERA , LETS SEND THIS TO HIS COOKING EVENT ' . I stupidly felt so romantic ( seriously dunno why I felt ) .
He was still making pooris when I was taking these pictures instructing me from the kitchen how to take pictures. I for the first time in my felt happy when he was cooking .
This is one of his specialities and am with full jealous sending this to Priti Singh's HIS COOKING EVENT

Ingredients :

Channa - 1 Cup
Jeera - 1 tsp.
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp.
Onion - 2 mid sized onions.
Tomato - 1 no.
Cinnamon - 3 1/2 " sticks
Garlic - 4 pods
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Tamarind - 1 small marble size
Everest Chole masala - 3 tsp.
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp.
Jeera Powder - 1 tsp.
Garam masala - 1 tsp.
Oil
Salt to taste.

Method :

Boil channa softly say for about 25 mins in medium flame.
Grind 2 mid sized large onions along with Garlic and ginger and keep it aside.
Grind a handful of Boiled Channa into a thick liquid.
Heat oil in a kadai.
Add Cinamon after the oil is heated nicely.
Immediately add the ground onion + garlic + ginger. Fry till it becomes golden brown.
Add the cut tomato into the kadai.
Add salt, coriander powder (1 spoon), Jeera powder (1 spoon), Chole masala (3 spoon) and garam masala (1 spoon) one after the other. When adding each of the spices, stir the tomato nicely so that the spices are well absorbed. Give around 30 seconds after adding one spice, before the next spice is added.
By the time all spices are added, the tomato will have mixed well with the onion (and no pieces will be seen).
Add the tamarind extract. This is added to give a tangy taste.
Wait for tamarind extract to come to a boil.
Now add the thick liquidy ground channa.
The ground onion, tomato and ground channa gives the base for the curry.
Wait for it to come to a boil.
Add the rest of the boiled channa pieces along with water. You could use the water used for boiling the channa.
Boil the mix nicely while stirring ocassionaly so that the base for the curry does not settle at the bottom.
Once the mixture start simmering, check for correctness of salt and channa masala.
Boil the mixture until you get the correct thickness of the gravy (i like semi-thick. you may want to control the amount of water you add).

Thanks Hari for typing elaborately whatever you had done and not putting me to type.None of my posts is as elaborate as this I guess. I know he is a true passionate cook !!!

carrot masala milk

2010-05-04T19:39:00.000+05:30

Ok I know my blog has been wanting some pictures and recipes , but have been busy with my exams . So , I am not blog hopping as well .Eagerly waiting to get back and catch up with all your recipes :).

Fifteen more days to complete my exams but this post has been for some reason getting postponed .This is now just to get enter into Priya's - cooking withseeds cardamom seeds Event as tomo is the last day .

As my exams are on its way ,I have completely stopped cooking and even if I cook its that chat pat cooking . So nothing major to post on the blog. Once I am done with my Exams , I hope I will get back in full form :).

Ingredients :

Carrot - 3 nos.( grated)
Milk - 600 ml
Sugar - 6 tsp.
Cardamom - 3 nos.
Nutmeg Powder - 1/2 tsp.

Method :

1. Cook grated carrots with milk in pressure cooker upto 2 whistles.
2. Drain the milk and grind the cooked carrot smoothly with cardamoms.You can just kept aside a tbsp. of carrot without grinding.
3.Mix carrot puree ,nutmeg powder, milk , sugar and grated carrot.

Serve it hot or cold.

Serve it hot or cold.

Pepper Mushroom fry with caramalised onion

2010-04-27T09:04:00.000+05:30

Have you guys ever fought with your siblings over stuffs claiming its yours when you were a kid. Have you anytime had problem with sharing your favourite foods.I am sure most of you would have had this incident atleast once . But now we are all grown up, learnt to share things with others and it looks very silly if we fight over though we wanted to .

But me and hari literally fought for this mushrooms when we sat for lunch.I was seriously fighting with him then but I feel its very funny now.I know these moments keep life going.

I had made one whole pocket of mushrooms which I think is very little quantity for gluttons like us now. I had infact secretly quaffed a few when it was getting cooked itself. I just loved this and am sure you will like it too .

Ingredients :

Button Mushroom - 200 gms
Onion - 1 Large ( sliced lengthwise)
Ground Pepper - 3 tsp or as per taste
Soya sauce - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan and once it is hot add onions , saute it until it becomes transparent, now you add sugar and stir once.This prevents onion from getting browner.
2. Add mushrooms and saute well. Mushroom will start bleeding water. cook until it gets dried .
3. Now add soya sauce , pepper and salt.(I have used pepper powder but it tastes better if ground pepper is added).Stir fry for a couple of minutes. Done.

Simple isn't it ?

Cabbage Bonda

2010-04-25T08:30:00.000+05:30

Frankly until marriage , I was a full time non vegeterian but ofcourse now I have it only when I crave for it. So, immediately after getting into a vegeterian family , I was taken aback by the whole lot of vegeterian dishes served at home, some of them ,I had not even heard about.

We all know coimbatoreans are the best hosts atleast I feel. You go to their house without notice and still you will be pampered with all goodies that are home made and you can indulge yourself with no guilt.

We had gone to one of Hari's cousin's place and we were newly wedded , I hardly knew anybody at their place. But know what , when she dished out this unheard bonda and carrot kheer, I gulped everything down and without any shame trust me no shame there and its not worth seeing shame there., asked for one more round of both totally totally making Hari embarassed. Lol .

But host was delighted by that act , she said I am her best guest. She even parcelled me both and me again without any disgrace brought it home happily . hee haa haa.

This is my bonda story ... and am very happy to share this wonderful recipe with you.
Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Cabbage - 1 cup
Onion - 1 no.
Green chillies - 4 nos.
Salt to taste.
oil to deep fry .

Method :

Mix all ingredients except oil like bonda batter .
Heat oil in a pan and drip small roundels into oil , deep fry until crisp.
This is very crispy outside and spongy inside.

To Serve :

This is good if you have it like bonda but it tastes better along with onion salad and lemon juice squeezed on every bonda.

Onion Salad :

Slice onion thinly, mix it with chat masala and sprinkle coriander leaves.

Tada Cabbage bonda is ready.

Beetroot Chutney

2010-04-23T10:46:00.000+05:30

This is one of the popular coimbatore recipes which I relish thoroughly.I have not used much of coriander seeds until marriage.Agreed I have not cooked before marriage.But even my mom never uses it much in her cuisine. My MIL requested me to use these seeds generously in my cooking after explaining me all those benefits.It has a special flavour and aroma which no one can deny.Try this aromatic chutney as well.

Ingredients

Beetroot - 1 large
Coriander seeds - 3 tsp.
Red chilly - 2 nos.
Curry leaves - few
oil - 1 1tsp
Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan , add beetroot and stir fry in medium flame sprinkling little water.
2. once it is half done add rest of the ingredients and cook until beet root is 3/4th done.
3.Cool and grind it in a mixie without adding water.

Easy peasy no?

Methi and sweet corn pulao

2010-04-21T10:09:00.000+05:30

This is one of the easiest recipes that is under the Sun . My all time favourite lunch box rice. It can be cooked in no time and is filled with greens and yellows providing enough nutrition for the day. Let me get straight into the recipe .

I have added no spice except cardamom and cinnamon.I am so glad to send this to CWS - Cardamom seeds by Priya.

Ingrdients :

Sweet corn - 1 cup
Methi leaves - 1 big bunch
Rice - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Butter - 2 tsp
Cardamom - 6 pods
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Onion - 1 large
Green chilly - 3
Salt to taste

Method :

Wash and soak the rice for half an hour.
Heat butter in a pressure pan and add cardamom and cinnamon
Add sliced onions and saute until it becomes transparent.
Add green chillies and ginger garlic paste and saute for a while.
Now add corn and methi , stir once ,add water and bring it to boil.
Finally add the rice and pressure cook it for 2 whistles.
Open the lid once pressure comes down and serve it with papad and Raita

Eggless Mango custard

2010-04-20T09:39:00.000+05:30

I have been wanting to try this custard for long, but no mangoes stayed so longer to make it.Every mango goes straight into my stomach leaving a slim chance for me to put my hands on it. Thanks to this mango, it would be a sin if I call this mango having hardly any taste.

I wanted to make it without eggs.Googled and googled and tried my concoctions also just to see it turned to my favorite. Heres the simple way to make it if you are an ardent lover of sweet condensed milk and your mango disappoints you with its taste.

Ingredients

Sweet condensed milk - 200 gms
Milk - 1/2 cup
hung Curd - 2 tbsp
Ripe mango - 1

Method

1.Cut mangoes into cubes , in a blender mix all the ingredients and blend it smoothly.
2. Pour this into small moulds and steam it like how we steam idli. Insert tooth pick to see if it comes out clean.Then it is cooked.
3.Keep it in the refrigerator for atleast 2 hours to set.
4.Serve chilled.

I am sending this to Mango Moods Event event hosted by Anupama .

kollu( horsegram) paruppu and kollu rasam

2010-04-18T13:30:00.000+05:30

There is a popular saying in tamil .. elachavanukku ellu and koluthavanukku kollu means sesame seeds for fatty and horse gram for skinny.No wonder , I have started using kollu often in my diet .
I must say horse gram is one of the unexplored dals here. I have never tasted this dal until I got married. and I used to think it is a cattle feed. It is surprising to find that this tastes better and has innumerable medicinal benefits .
Recipe for rasam and dhal , both can be made just in time and the whole meal can be fixed in less than half an hour. I remember having this whenever I have sore throat which is the symptom of fever. Thadal sore throat disappears in a day and fever would have never shown its face. Try this ,I bet it works for you too. This is one of the gramathu samayals.. What happened to me errrrrr,,, trying out all gramathu samayal .. I hope I dont become one gramathu manushi .. Hee Hee .. Lets get into the recipe ..

Horse gram Dal :

Ingredients :

1. Horse dhal - 1/2 a cup
2. Garlic - 5 pods
3. small onion - 4 nos.
4. Coriander seeds - 2 tsp.
5. Red chillies - 3 nos.
6. Curry leaves - few
7. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
8. Mustard - 1/2 tsp
9.Oil - 1 tsp.
10. Salt to taste.

Method

1. Pressure cook dal with just more than enough water for about 20 mins.
2. After pressure is down , drain the water and keep the dhal separately.
2. Heat oil in a pan , let mustard to pop out , add onion and saute until it is cooked and add garlic fry for 30 secs , add cumin seeds, coriander seeds, curry leaves, red chillies and salt.
3.Add the dal to the above mixture and add little of water and bring the dal to boil again.Remove from fire.Let it cool completely.Grind it in a mixie giving a couple of pulse.
4. Dal is done.

I am sending this to Delicious dal from India by Suma.

Horse Gram Rasam

1. Dal water - 2/3 cup
2. Tamarind extract - 1/3 cup
2. Garlic - 4 pods
3. Rasam Powder - 1 tsp.
4. Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp.
5. Curry leaves - few.
6. Ghee - 1 tsp.
7. Hing - a pinch
8. Salt to taste

Method :

1. Mix dal water, tamarind extract , rasam powder, hing and salt and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
2. Add ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds to pop up and then fry garlic pods.
3. Add water given as in 1 to the 2 and bring it to boil and then simmer for 5 mins.

Tried and Tasted - Malar's Beetroot Vadai

2010-04-16T14:01:00.000+05:30

If there is one vegetable that I can eat raw,baked , cooked whatever it would be beetroot.I was not fond of this vegetable until my mom told me beetroot makes lips rosy.(Its true I have told the same to my cute little niece that she is become crazy over this veggie). I have tried everything that is possible with beetroot but this vadai.

I was so tempted to make masala vadai after drooling over Sathya's masala vada and at the same time wanted to make use of expiring beetroot in some ways.Then again I searched in google reader for beetroot and came across this fantastic beetroot vadai in malar's blog. I am so happy that after my series of flops in trying it out new recipes this one has come out strikingly well. Thanks to malar and Sathya.

I have made a very few modifications according to my taste.

Ingredients :

Channa Dhal - 1 cup
Onion - chopped 1 no.
Beetroot - large grated 1 no.
Green chillies - 4 medium
Fennel seeds - 2 tsp.
Coriander leaves - few
Curry leaves - few
Rice Flour - 3 tsp.
Salt to taste.
Oil to deep fry

Method :

1. Soak channa dhal for about an hour or so.Then completely drain the water and spread it in a towel and let it dry for few minutes.
2. Keep aside a fistful of channa dhal and grind the remaining with fennel seeds coarsely without adding water.If needed can sprinkle a little.But make sure it is not very moist.
3. Then throw in chopped onions,fistful of channa dhal, coriander leaves, curry leaves, chopped green chillies and mix all like a dough.
4. You can add rice flour for the crispier ones.I would suggest you to add rice flour at the last if the mix has become little watery. Otherwise not needed.( I cudnt wait for the channa dhal to drain out water completely and it becomes watery so had added rice flour to get the consistency)
5. Then make small gooseberyy size round balls and flatten it placing it between your palms. This way it comes little bulging at the middle .
6. Fry it in oil in medium flame . Thats all yummy beetroot vadai is ready. If you are health conscious you can as well bake it.The result was just awesome.

Baked Thattu Vadai and awards

2010-04-13T17:33:00.000+05:30

Hari is a big fan of snacks and as soon as he returns from the office he goes straight to the snack box .If he doesnt find anything interesting he goes really maad.I sometimes wonder how come he is not putting on weight even though he eats so much.People are really gifted and I envy such kind of people unlike me who puts on weight even if I breathe.At the same time I cant keep my mouth shut from munching something.So, I deliberately avoid stacking snacks at my pantry. But how long can one be without having all those . So I thought I will make thattu vadai and by the time I finish grinding all powders I was totally exhausted and heat was getting into me. I had no patience to stand in the kitchen also to fry everything . consequently decided to bake this off and to know the difference made a very few deep fried ones. Surprisingly, Hari was not able to make out a difference between both the versions. Why deep fry when baked ones is as good as deep fried ones. Truly guilt free indulgence for me and a crunchy munchy for him.

Recipe goes like this

Raw Rice Powder - 1 cup
Urad dhal powder - 1 tsp.
Roasted dhal - 1 tsp.
Curry leaves - few
hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter - 2 tsp.

Mix all the ingredients together and make a soft dough using water.Then make gooseberry size balls and flatten them between 2 greased plastic sheets.Preheat the oven at 200 degree celsius and place the flattened balls on the baking sheet and spray oil on each of them and bake for about 10 mins on each side.Crispy Thattu vadai is ready.

Recipe sounds simple but making those 2 powders will take time.

For Raw Rice Powder :

Soak Raw Rice for half an hour and drain the water and then dry them on a towel completely.Put it in a mixie and grind into smooth powder. There may be few lumps after grinding so sieve it to remove all those lumps.

For Urad dhal Powder :

Dry roast Urad Dhal till golden brown and powder it.

P.S : Those with little bubbles on it are deep fried .

Now award time

Menagasathiya of sashiga blog and Jai of Tasty Appetite have shared this with me. Both of them are very adorable having unique and healthy recipes in their respective spaces. I am totally honoured to receive these awards from them.Thanks Menaga and Jai .

I am very delighted to share this awards with much deserving bloggers.

Krishnaveni of Krishnaveni's Kitchen
Sushma mallya of Authenti Food Delights
Cool Lassie of http://pangravykadaicurry.blogspot.com/
Sathya Sridhar of Samayal Corner
Sashi of Sashi's Tasty Bites
Maya and Lakshmi of Yummy Team
Kiran of Sumadhara
Rumana Ambrin of Spice ur Senses

bottle gourd and cow pea curry

2010-04-09T14:28:00.000+05:30

I have suddenly become more addicted to this naattu( country )vegetables.Back in my native I used to hate all these veggies for many reasons. My parents never make anything with hybrid vegetables or that is straight from cold storage box. Amma still says try to avoid store bought food and it is after these many years slowly starting to sink into my head.
To my surprise , most of the sites suggested this to include in your daily intake if you are on diet .
Gourd is:

•Low in Saturated Fat, and Cholesterol

•High in Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Zinc, Thiamin, Iron, Magnesium and Manganese. Note that Wax Gourd is high in Sodium.

The nutritional value of gourd makes it suitable for:

•Maintaining optimum health

•Weight loss

Avoid including gourd in your diet if you're interested in:

•Weight gain

This is awesome right. More interesting fact I found when I wikied for Bottle gourd is I got this Pic . Isn't it beautiful ?
Pic Source : Wikipedia

Going to try this on my own after my exams are over for sure.

So now the time for recipe :

Ingredients

Bottle Gourd chopped - 1 cup
Cow Pea - 1/2 cup
Small Onion - 6 nos.
Tomato - 1 no.
Tamarind - 1 small meon size ball
Coconut - 1 tbsp.
Sambhar Powder - 2 tsp.
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard , curry leaves for seasoning
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Boil cow pea in pressure cooker for about 15 mins.
2. Then take a pan and add oil , once oil is hot enough add mustard and let it pop up.
3. Now add onion and saute them until it changes color.
4. Add tomato, chopped bottle gourd ,sambhar powder,tamarind extract and salt .Close the lid and cook until bottle gourds are 5. done.You Can put everything together except cowpea in cooker and give one whistle which is very faster.
6. Add Cooked cowpea and coconut and boil it for a minute .
7. Now add cooked cow peas and coconut

Serve it with hot rice drizzling some ghee on it. Perfect for the lunch .

I am sending this to Delicious dals from India hosted by Suma.

Award Time

2010-04-06T23:42:00.000+05:30

This is definitely one of the most happiest moments in my life.This blog world has identified a different me in me. Only after coming to the blog world , My paper crafts and painting once used to be hobbies have become my passion.And guess what I have made some origamy stuffs and dispayed at home . Friends who visited my house were thoroughly impressed with it and being it summer, they have started asking me to start summer classes for the kids. If it was one ,I would have taken it as a best compliment I have ever got. But when you hear the same for the third time , it really makes me to think about it.I have resolved to start up something differently for the next summer for the kids.

Followed by that, I am drenched in awards this time which makes me doubly happy . Most of the awards have come with a Tag making me to think which is the last thing I will ever want to do. So awards that require my brain will take a little time to get posted.

This awards have been passed on to me by yummy team of yummyoyummy and Rumana of Spice ur sense.Thank you ladies , I feel very honoured dearies.Do check out their blogs for their wonderful collection of recipes.You will be amused as much as I did.

\\
This award has come with a couple of rules to share 10 things about me and need to pass this award to fellow bloggers.

I would like to pass on this award to aruna manikandan of Veggie Paradise,Ms.Chitchat of Chitchat@crossroads,Leena of namma Saviruchi ,swathi of Zesty south indian recipe ss of SS blogs here,Kiran of Samudhura

Ten things about me :
1. I am Pavithra Srihari ( I take this opportunity to change my name from verum Pavithra to Pavithra Srihari as there are more than one Pavithra here)hailing from a small town called Karur in Tamilnadu and settled in Bangalore after Marriage.
2. Very simple and ambitious.
3. Started my CA course after my Marriage and my final exams are on its way.Hope to complete it without flunking.
4. Passionate about dancing though not a trained classical dancer.Still regret for it.I am passionate about paper crafts and paintings as well.
5. I really hate to go out for shopping with anyone who cannot decide on a thing .That said, I am not much of a shopper at home ,but brigade road has transformed me into a voracious shopper.
6. I am a big road street foodie. The sandwich auto cart shop in chennai egmore is my fav of all.I have such favs in bangalore and coimbatore as well.
7. Biggest tamil movie buff.If you have seen Rajini and Goundamani in Mannan movie, just imagine me there waiting in the q to buy movie tickets with one glass in my goggles. Internet is made my life easier nowadays.
8. I am a person with starting trouble.Too lazy to get started on anything and once started I can easily drop of things if not interesting as well.
9. A bit egoistic.
10. of all I am a great cook.If I dont call myself after all whoelse will.

Ridge gourd milk curry ( peerkangai paal kozhambu)

2010-04-05T10:51:00.000+05:30

This is my all time favourite .A very simple recipe has been passed down to me from my mother and when I wanted to check for the recipe in the net I couldnt find one . So, thought lemme bring it to my blog.Maybe not there considering its simplcity. Whatever I am so happy posting my yet another favourite recipe.

Food says people's culture.This is also one of the cultures that need to be cherished and conserved. I see so many blogs here though living miles apart from home land trying to make authentic home food.

That said let me get into the recipe :

Ingredients :
Ridge gourd - 1 no.
small onion - 6 nos.
Green chilli - 2 nos.
Jeera - 1 tsp.
milk - 1 cup

Method:
1. Take a pressure pan and heat oil and once oil is hot enough add onion and saute for 2 mins.
2. Now add green chilli and cumin seeds and fry for 3 seconds .
3. Add Ridge gourd and salt and stir well . Sprinkle a tspn of water and close the lid and give one whistle.
4. Once the pressure is down , add milk along mash roughly so that milk gets mixed with raidge gourd and heat it in sim for 2 mins.
Salt to taste.
Oil for tampering

Sweet, sour and spicy Sesame Powder

2010-04-03T11:51:00.000+05:30

I was not a big fan of ellu podi until I had this version . As you all know Andhra is known for its gunpowder which is really spicy.I used to haunt the andhra restaurants here just for its gunpowder and gongura chuntney .I stayed in hostel for somedays where I was sharing my room with andhrites.Probably thats where I got addicted to this powders.I had a strong aversion to my hostel food.So I just eat my rice only with this Ellu Podi .
I dont know for some stupid reasons , I have been deprived of this podi. Now doctor has asked me to take lots of ellu in food as it is very rich in Iron.Yipppeee !!! Have you seen a doctor asking us to eat something we like.
I have had that andhra podis taste in my taste and after trying so many attempts , I captured that test .I got this recipe from menutoday blog and slightly modified for my taste. I couldnt believe that H was having it with idli,rice,curd and with anything that is on his plate.
This is little different from what my mother makes. This is hot,sour and sweet podi.

Ingredients
Sesame seeds (Black) - 1 cup
Urad dhal - 1/2 cup
Red chillies - 6 nos.
Curry leaves - few
Tamarind - one small lemon size
Jaggery - 1/2 tsp.(wouldnt advise you to add more then it will dominate the podi)
Salt to taste

Method

1.Dry roast Sesame until it starts popping out.
2.Dry roast Urad dhal separately until it turns light brown colour in medium flame.
3.Dry roast Red chillies, curry leaves, tamarind and salt for few seconds.Take care that chillies are not burnt.
4.Grind 2 and 3 with jaggery to a smooth powder and finally add ellu to it and give 2 pulse.Ellu should not be ground for long then it will start to give oil smell.

I am sending this to Blog Bites #2 - Copy cat Edition at onehotstove by Nupur.

Tried and Tasted-Sashiga's Oven brinjal chips

2010-04-02T17:57:00.000+05:30

Its been more than 3 years since I bought my oven but I have never put to proper use . Never even thought of trying something using convection mode.H used to say ' its only occupying space and even if we put to used iron dealers it will fetch atleast dates. But after seeing this chips from sashiga , I couldn't resist myself from trying my hands on it.I feel for not using my oven for so long. This came out exceptionally well and I wanted to thank Menaga for sharing this wonderful recipe with us once again here.

Ingredients :

1. Long green brinjal - 2 nos.
2. Cornflour - 2 tsp.
3. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
4. Salt to taste
5. Oil for brushing.

Method :

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degree .Meanwhile you can cut the brinjal into thin round slices as for chips.Then sprinkle cornflour, chilli powder and salt and mix well .Place an aluminium foil over a baking sheet and rub with oil.Brush all brinjal slices with a drop of oil on each. Then place all brinjal slices without overlapping with each other. Place in oven and bake it at 180 degree for 1o mins on one side .Turn the slices and cook for about 5 mins.Keep checking to see not got burnt.

This goes so well with rasam rice and curd rice.

P.S I have actually burnt a few as slices are not even. so make sure brinjal is evenly sliced.

Capsicum besan poriyal

2010-04-01T12:10:00.000+05:30

Capsicum has become my favourite vegetable off late. Aloo has now been pushed to the second place after this one.We never used to get capsicum in my small town when I was young.So I was not aware of this vegetable much.Only after coming to chennai that may be in 2003 , I tasted this vegetable for the first time though I have heard a lot about it.I just fell in love with this vegetable and I have still not gotten up. One good thing about this vegetable is its so easy to cut, can be eaten raw, cooks faster and it blends well in any type of cuisine.

I badly wanted to make stuffed capsicum , but for some reason ended up making this fry .Ingredients are very similar to the one we use for stuffed capsicum but just the methodolgy is different.Guess what , this came out really well.

Ingredients :

Capsicum - 2 nos.
Onion - 1 no.
Besan powder - 2 tbsn.
oil - 3 tspn.
Salt to taste.

Method:

1. Dice capsicum into cubes and cut onions .
2. Heat oil in a pan and once it is hot, add onion and saute for few minutes , then add diced capsicum, salt and stir fry nicely until capsicum is cooked but still it has to retain its crunchiness.
3. Meanwhile dry roast besan in a separate pan and finally add it to the cooked capsicum and fry it for 2 more minutes . Capsicum besan is ready .

My second set of awards

2010-03-31T12:36:00.000+05:30

I am so excited to receive my next set of awards. I am so thankful to Rupali of Recipegrabbag for sharing this award with me.She is as new as me to this blog world and has a great collection of recipes. Keep up the good work dear.

I would like to share these awards with the following 12 fellow blogger buddies .

Gita, Anu,Menaga,Hari chandana,treat n trick ,Aparna s. Mallya,Pavithra,malar,Krishnaveni,Sathya Sridhar,sushma s. Mallya

Your comments and encourage only make my day.

These Award Winners have to do the following :
1) Use the logo within your post .
2) Pass on to atleast 12 other bloggers .
3) Add a link to the nominees in your post.
4) Let the nominees know of their award
5) Share the love and link to the friend, who has passed this award to you.

I have received another award from Menaga of Sashiga , A very big thanks to her Her recipes are very quick, straight forward and innovative . She is a very inspiring lady and am really proud for having received this award from her.

I would like to share this one with 2 special persons for me in this blog world.One is Gita who used to be the first to comment on most of my recipes and I received the first comment from her.That is unforgettable. Second one is Anu who gave me my first award . If they were not there I dunno if I would have been blogging here now. Thanks a ton to both of them.

Grilled Cutlet

2010-03-22T18:36:00.000+05:30

As I am in diet phase , completely avoiding deep fried stuffs. So this is one such attempt to avoid oily food and guess what this turned out to be a brilliant snack.This can be fixed in few minutes . I dont know if the crispness would have lasted for long as we have finished everything in seconds. I am very happy that its a big hit at my house.So here the recipe goes...

Ingredients :

Boiled Potatoes - 5 nos.
Boiled peas - 1/4 cup
Boiled Carrot - 1 no.
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste.

Method :

Mash the potaoes along with carrot and peas and add chilli powder, garam masala, salt and make it like a soft dough.Make small balls and flatten it .Then dip them in cornflour mix and rub it nicely with bread crumbs.Place it inside the oven and grill it for 10 mins on one side and flip it then grill for 4 mins on the other sides.Crispy Cutlet is ready.

Baingan Bharta

2010-03-21T14:46:00.000+05:30

I really hate to be in kitchen when friends are at home. I prefer finish cooking before they arrive or I feel its better to order something outside. This specially after getting into blog, friends call me and say " Pavi we are going to test your cooking skill today in real, be prepared. The moment I hear them say something like this , my legs and hands will never stop trembling until they come.You cannot make the usual idli chutney or roti subzi . At the same time you cannot spare more time specially when it is a short notice. Under circumstances like this , this recipe comes in handy. This is one of the richest gravies atleast among my friends circle. Trust me , you will get wowowoooooo for this recipe.One of my favourites.

Best part is , it goes well with roti, dosa, rice rawa upma , idli . u name it , it will go with anything after all.

Ingredients :

Egg plant - 2 nos.
Onion - 2 nos.
Tomato - nos.
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp.
Coriander Powder - 1 1/2 tsp.
Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tsp.
Coriander leaves - few
Oil - 3 tsp.
Salt to taste.

Method:
1. Smear oil on egg plant and roast it directly in gas medium flame.
2. Remove from flame and run it in cold water and remove the outer skin.
3. Cut it into pieces and check for any worms. then mash it thoroughly.
4. Take a pan, add oil and once it is hot add chopped onions and fry until it turns color.
5. Add ginger garlic paste and saute until raw smell goes off.
6. Add tomato and fry until it is all smashed completely.
7. Now put the mashed baingan , stir well and cook for 3 mins.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Lip smacking baingan bharta is ready.

Capsicum chutney

2010-03-20T16:25:00.000+05:30

People around me are getting excited when I tell them I have started blogging.One of my friends had visited me yesterday and he was thrilled after seeing my blog.He immediately said , we are going to cook something yummilicious . Then we forgot the purpose for what he came home and we got into making gobi manchurian . I need not mention that it all flied in seconds that we couldnt even take pictures to post it.

Then another friend of mine came in the morning and as far as I know she has not even see the kitchen before in her life.I asked what she wants for breakfast. She said , we will try making capsicum chutney which her friend invariably used to make for her when they both were sharing a house. I without having a second thought put my hands on it.

This is how my capsicum chutney born. She just loved it.

Here the recipe

Ingrdients :

Capsicum - 3 nos.
Onion - 2 nos.
Green chilly - 1 no.
Channa dhal - 1 tsp.
Oil - 2 tsp.
Tamarind - small pinch ( if you want the chutney to ba tangy)
Salt to taste.

Method:

1. Heat a pan and add oil. Once oil is hot add channa dhal and fry for few seconds.
2. Then add green chilly and onion .Fry till onion turns into pink color.
3. Now add diced capsicums and fry until it changes color .At this time nice aroma comes out.
4. Add enough salt and let the mixture to cool for a while and grind it coarsely.

Yummy chutney is ready. If you want to make colorful chutney, you can use red or yellow pepper. This goes well with idli or dosa.

Dahi / Thayir Vada

2010-03-18T15:44:00.000+05:30

Off late , I have become extremely health conscious.I myself dunno how long this concisousness is going to run along. But this time , I am making little extra efforts to see that I dont get bored with eating low calorie foods.
So, have been replacing deep frying with shallow frying, including lots of carrots in place of coconut are some of the things I am trying out. So far it has really worked good and H is enjoing too.
Today wanted to make something healthy, filling,low calorie and no compromise on taste as well.I found this recipe here and I just couldn't resist myself from trying it. Guess what, H couldnt even make out it was made in Paniyaram skillet.Ofcourse, if he had had it without curd, then he would have asked me 'whats this' sarcastically.
Nothing can get perfect than this on a hot summer day.

Ingredients :
For Vada
Urad dhal - 1 cup
Green chillies - 3 nos.
ginger - 1/2 inch
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp.
For Dahi/Tayir
beaten - 1 1/2 cups
Milk - 1 cup
Salt to taste
For seasoning curd
Oil - 1 tsp.
Mustard, urad dhal,channa dhal - all together 1 tsp.
Red chillies - 2 nos.
Curry leaves - few
For serving
Grated carrot
Chopped coriander leaves

Method:

1. Soak urad dhal in water for 3 hours and grind smoothly along with green chillies,ginger and salt.
2. Then heat paniyaram skillet and add a drop( as mine is non stick) of oil into each of the grove . Once the oil is hot enough , pour the batter to half the grove and when it leaves it sides flip it to the other side and once it is done remove from the grove.
3. Soak it immediately in milk when it is hot so that milk will be absorbed by vadas.
4. Before half an hour of serving , add seasond curd into the above milk soaked vadas and serve it with grated carrots and coriander leaves.

Yummy thayir vada is done.

can u guys recommend on a good Vegetable chopper

2010-03-17T15:24:00.000+05:30

I was watching this nicer dicer on tele shopping show. After seeing it, now I am tempted to get one for me.I was going through nicer dicer's review and it seems not good . I can also get a chopper from US as somebody will be travelling now and then from here.

I am totally confused now as which one to get .I absolutely have no knowledge about this and I havent even seen anybody using it here in India.

So, friends I need your help on should I get one and if at all it will be useful ,then which one to get.

Egg kurma - Thirunelveli style

2010-03-13T00:08:00.000+05:30

Ingredients :

Small onion - 7 nos.
Country tomatoes - 2 nos.
Coconut - 1 cup
Chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Coriander powder - 1 tsp.
Egg - 3 nos.
Oil - 2 tsp.
Salt to taste

Salt to taste

Method :

1. Take a pan, add oil and once it is hot add onion and fry it till it turns into brown color.
2. Add tomatoes , salt , chilli powder, coriander powder and cook until tomatoes are mashed completely.
3. Grind the coconut smoothly and add into the above pan. Add enough water and bring it to boil.
4. Once the gravy starts boiling , break the egg and add it into the gravy one by one. It should not be stirred. Close the lid and leave it for 10 mins in medium heat.

Serve it with idli, dosa or aapam.

buttermilk Rice upma

2010-03-11T11:18:00.000+05:30

Happy Women's day !!!!

I wanted to post about a couple of girls who have touched my life during my visit to my native town.Will post it in detail later.I would like to dedicate this post to them .

Padma and Deepa , this is to u.

Let me come to the post. I have never heard about broken rice upma until Padma spoke of her fav dish. She said rice upma is her favourite and she dint stop with that next day she made for me and brought home . I truly savored this dish.She also said it can be made with buttermilk or tamarind extract .

I tried with buttermilk and it wasss coooooool. Perfect breakfast .

Ingredients :

Rice - 1 cup
Channa dal - 1/2 cup
Coconut - 3/4 cup
Butter milk - 2 cups
Small onion - 7 nos.
Green chillies - 3 nos.
Curry leaves - few
oil- 3 tsp
Mustard,split urad dhal, chaan dal - 1 tsp.
Salt to taste

Method

1. Wash the rice and dal separately and drain the water completely.Put it in mixie and grind it coarsely like rawa.
2. Take a pressure cooker and add oil .Once it is hot, add mustard and let it pop . Then add channa dal, split urad dhal, green chilly, curry leaves and saute for few seconds.
3. Then add onion and fry until it turns into pink color.
4. Now add butter milk and let it boil.
5. Add broken rice and dhal , stir once.
6. Add enough salt and coconut and close the lid .
7. Give one sound in high and reduce the flame to simmer mode for 6 minutes.

It goes well with Baingan gothsu.

Paal Khova

2010-03-03T17:59:00.000+05:30

Things have been blooming well at my end.When unexpected happens , there is no bound to that joy.If one such thing is happened, well ok we will think ok some luck has turned its face this time towards me.When you encounter so many such events in a couple of days , is it not that luck is dancing and singing with you? Alright it is.

But actually the other way of looking at it is , never expect anything to happen as per your wish.Believe in Whatever has to happen it has to happen.Whatever has happened is happened for good ( too much I know but am sure thats the truth).So me from now on never gonna be anticipating .Do my part well at my end and let the things to fall in its place.

To enjoy this happiest moment , me made this my all time favourite Paal khova for the first time.

Some how, I dont like shaped proper ones as it is little dry. I never get this semi liquid paal khova anywhere in bangalore.Bangaloreans out here , If you have any idea about where I will get this please let me know.I am just dying to have this .

Then, mustered up all my courage to try this on my own. Well, it dint come out as I wanted but it was yummilicious.

Link to this Recipe http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/2005/10/31/pala-kova-doodh-peda/

I found this one was my paal khova but I think I should have turned off the stove a little while ago to have got my desired semi liquid consistency.

But it took a lot of time . At the end of it , nothing matters.

Vinnaithaandi Varuvayaa

2010-03-03T05:53:00.000+05:30

Definitely not going to give any story or plot.Watch this movie with very open mind . I am sure you will like it as much as I enjoyed.

Vinnaithaandi varuvaaya - the much awaited movie is got released today and asusual what may come watched it on the first day. I wanted to watch it as it is gautham menon's movie thinking he would have given a totally different flick from Vaaranam Aiyiram.But it reminds me of VA , alaipayuthey in lots of places.Immediately after the release of 'Tamil Padam ' , Director must not have wanted anybody else to spoof any of his scenes.So he himself has criticised it in the movie.He never wanted it to be cinematic that he shows even hero is a boxer to fight with gundas.

Somewhere felt director lacks creativity.Even the song sequences are standardized ones.Nothing new. First time was fine , but how many times to watch the same.

Needless to say , first half was very romantic,but nowhere near alaipayuthae.Dialogue deliveries were awesome.Only the music and the dialogues have given the feel, soul, emotions, etc. to the movie.Those who dint like ARR's music of vinnaithaandi Varuvaya songs , just listen it with visuals it will keep ringing in ur ears.It doesn't mean picturisations were too good .Its just that ARR has done music to sync with the movie.One more person needs a mention here is costume designer for Trisha.Be it western, Saris,,etc, she has done a gr8 job.

Second half was too much of narration, too much of twists.Bit lengthier one .Surprisingly,Simbhu has done a decent job.I wonder how he managed it without finger styles, punch dialogues etc.kudos to him. Hope he maintains it.More importantly he looked good.Trisha was ok.Cinematographer Ganesh's timing dialogue was too good.

If you want to watch a sensible, no masala stuff and you are still in your 20's and 20's by heart , then this one is for you.

Me and My first Awards

2010-03-01T14:29:00.000+05:30

Yippeeee !!!! I got my first award .Its just so amazing to receive an award.Thanks a ton Anu for remembering me and sharing this with me. It really means a lot me . Sorry for collecting it too late.I dunno how to post an award.So it there is anything wrong , I request you guys to educate me on that.Thanks once again Anu.

I would like to pass on these awards to a couple of people

* Rohini of curries and spices
* Neetz of neetz kitchen

Noodles with Basic Brown Sauce

2010-02-28T21:17:00.000+05:30

I had been to my native and was there for more than a month.I had been pampered with all the food that I wanted to eat.So, after back from my native I dint feel like cooking that is very elaborate.

I had invited friends home today and it wont look nice if I just made dosa or idli.Ok,I din't have batter in hand.Suddenly thought why not I make this simple Chinese Noodles with brown sauce.Very simple, very quick and very yummy too.

Noodles :

As per instructions in the packet.

Basic Brown Sauce

Ingredients :

Mushroom - 100 gms( you can actually use carrot,beans,broccoli,tofu)

Soy sauce - 3 tsp

chilli Sauce - 2 tsp

Garlic - 4 pods

Brown Sugar - 2 tsp

Vinegar - 1 tsp

Olive oil - 3 tsp

Corn Flour - 3 tsp.

Salt to taste

Method :

1. Heat Oil and when oil is really hot about to smoke add Garlic and fry for few seconds.

2. Then Add mushrooms and saute for a minute.

3. Then add soy sauce, chilli sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and mix well.

4. mix cornflour in water and make it a paste and add it into the pan.

5. Add enough water and boil it until the sauce thickens. If you feel the sauce is too thick add some more water and salt.

Vendaikkai - Puli kozhambu

2010-02-07T15:33:00.000+05:30

I will be eagerly waiting for sundays to come as that is the only day, me and my husband get to have home made lunch together.So, I always make it a point to prepare something that we both of us like.

Be it any kozhambu, we both of us drool over Hee hee ( we eat anything as far as that is edible that is a different thing ). But vendaikkai is in the top of the list.

This is typical kovai style.After so many days of trying ,now I am able to make this proper vendaikkai kozhambu.

Ingredients :

Lady's finger - 12 nos.(small)

Small onion - 10 nos.

Red chilly - 4 nos.

Coriander powder - 3 tsp.

Tamarind extract - 3 tsp.(thick)

Coconut - 1 handful

Roasted channa dhal - 2 tsp.

Oil - 4 tsp.

Salt to taste

Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan and fry small onions (no need to cut).once it is slightly brown add red chillies, coriander powder and fry for few seconds.

2. Now add coconut and roasted dhal into the pan, stir once and turn off the stove.( dont fry coconut for long , then it will start giving oil smell).

3.Keep aside the pan and let it cool until it gets ready to be run in a mixie.Then grind it and make a paste.

4.Take another pan and 2 tsp of oil.Once the oil is heated , fry the lady's finger until it gets cooked.

5. Now add the ground mixture into the above pan , add tamarind extract , enough water and salt .Bring it to boil.

6. Curry will start thickening, so add some more water if you feel it is too thick.

Kozhanbu is ready !!!

Tried and Tasted - Anu's Hot samosa

2010-02-07T14:59:00.000+05:30

Samosa is one of my hot favourites since school days.We used to get this samosa for 25 paise filled with nothing but onion.I dont find these kind of samosas in bangalore at all.When I saw this Anu's blog I just couldn't resist making.It also turned out really well.Thanks Anu !!.

I dint make much changes to the recipe except that I added carrot,Beetroot, cabbage to the filling.

Lemon Rasam

2010-02-06T13:28:00.000+05:30

Ingredients

Thoor Dhal - 2 tsp.
Garlic - 7 pods
Ghee - 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds and urad dhal - 1/2 tsp.
Jeera powder , Coriander powder, pepper Powder - 1 tsp together
Lemon - 1/2
Coriander Leaves - few
Pepper corns - 4 nos.
Red chilly - 1 no,
Sugae - 1/2 tsp.

Method

1. Boil thoor dhal and keep it aside.
2. Heat a pan and add ghee ( I prefer ghee as dhal is added which will enhance the taste) and add mustard urad dhal and pepper corns.Once it splutters add garlic and chilly .
3. Add enough water and bring it to boil .Garlic should be nicely cooked.
4. Now add nicely mashed thoor dhal and stir it once.
5. Turn off the gas and add lemon juice(If juice is added when the gas is on it will become bittery).

6. Add chopped coriander leaves and close it tightly with lid for few mins.

Rasam is ready !!!!

I normally make Lemon rasam when I make sambhar ..So cooked thoor dhal is in hand ...2 mins fatafat rasam will be ready ..

Wheat Rawa Dosa

2010-02-06T01:10:00.000+05:30

Being on diet is not an easy thing I realised.I know how many times I have broken this rule, as if resolution has been taken only to break it.So wanted to try something tasty as well less in calories.So I thought why not I make this Rawa dosa with Wheat Rawa and wheat flour without rice flour.It was not as crispy as normal . I think it will be proper crispy rawa dosa if rice flour had been added.Thought it was not crispy it tasted really good.So, I thought I will share this recipe in my blog.

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 1 cup

Wheat Rawa - 1/2 cup( Sambha Rawa)

Onion - 1 no.

Green chilly - 2 nos.

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.

channa dhal - 1 tsp.

Urad dhal - 1 tsp.

Jeera - 1 tsp.

Salt to taste

Oil - 2 tsp.

Method

1. Mix Wheat flour and wheat Rawa with water and add salt . The batter should be normal rawa dosa consistency.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard , channa dhal, urad dhal and jeera.Once it changes color add chopped green chillies and fry for few seconds.

3. Then add chopped onions into the pan and fry until it is nicely cooked.

4. Pour this into the batter.

5. Heat a dosa pan and pour batter over the tawa.The batter is so thin so it cannot be spread using the ladle.Just pour it like drizzling oil on dosa.

6. Once the bottom portion is cooked well, if it is cooked the sides of the dosa will tend to leave up the tawa and it is flipped to the other side.Remove it from the tawa once it is done .

Serve hot it with coconut chutney ..Happy Dieting for me !!!

Wheat Bread Upma

2010-02-05T20:55:00.000+05:30

Bread Packet has been there in the fridge for so long and it has almost reached its expiry date.I dint want to make toast or sandwich.I really felt like eating something more southie.Then decided why not make Bread Upma.It turned out really well.

Ingredients :

Bread - 7 slices

Onion - 2 sliced thinly

Tomato - 1no.

Green chilly - 4 nos.

Curry leaves - 6 leaves
Coriander leaves - 3 small stem
Mustard - 1tsp
Urad dhal - 1tsp

Channa Dhal - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - a small pinch

Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Crumble the bread slices well by running it in mixie for few seconds.
2. Sprinkle water on the crumbles.(otherwise after cooking it will become very dry).
3. Heat a pan, add oil.Once it is heated add mustard,channa dhal,urad dhal.
4. fry it for few seconds until dhal changes color.
5. Add Green chilly, curry leaves and saute it for a couple of minutes.
6. Add onion and fry it until it turns into light pink color.
7. Now add tomatoes,turmeric powder and salt.Cook until tomatoes disappear.
8. Now add bread crumbles and mix well.Squeeze lime juice finally and serve it hot.If you feel that it is little dry , sprinkle some more water and mix .

Nice sweet,spice and sour bread upma is ready.

Carrot Soup

2010-02-04T14:02:00.000+05:30

Sometimes,mostly on sundays I binge eat.So to compensate for that I eat very light at night.This is one such light meal for dinner but with full of nutrients.
Ingredients
Carrot - 3 nos.
Milk - 1 cup
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
Bayleaf - 1
Onion - 1 no.
Ginger - small piece
Butter - 1 tsp.
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Cut the carrots into cubes .
2. Heat the pressure cooker and add butter.
3. Once the butter is melted, add cinnamon,bayleaf, ginger and onion.Fry until onion turns into light pink colour.
4. Now add carrot cubes and saute it for a minute.
5. Add milk and pressure cook for one whistle in sim.
6. Let it cool completely and then remove cinnamon,bayleaf and ginger.
7. Blend this mixture smoothly.If it is too thick, add some water to get the desired consistency and bring it to boil.

Serve hot with Toasted bread.This makes a complete meal for dinner.

Kambu Kozhukattai

2010-02-04T12:33:00.000+05:30

Summer is already starting and heat is pinching us. So time for us to have some really cool food.SoI thought I will share this unique kambhu kozhukattai with u guys to beat this summer with this super cool tiffin.
Ingredients
Pearl millet - 1 1/2 cups
Onion - 1 no.
Channa Dal - 1 tsp.
Split urad dal - 1 tsp
Mustard - for seasoning
Green chilly - 3 nos.
Coconut - 1 handful
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method :

1. Dry roast the pearl millet until u get aroma.but it should not be over roasted.Stop it once the raw smell goes off.Cool it completely.
2. Then run this roasted pearl millet in mixie for about 2 to 3 rounds.All pearl millets are broken now and it will look like rawa.
3. When u have broken it some would have got powdered.We need to remove those powder before we get into cooking.Sieve the broke millets to separate the powder.now we have powder and rawa separately.
4. Take a pan, add oil and once the oil is heated add mustard, channa dal, Urad daland fry until dal turns into light brown color.
5. Add Onions and green chilly and saute it until onion turns into light pink color.
6. Add Water and bring it to boil.
7. Now add the broken millet and let it cook for sometime.
8. when the millet is almost done, add the powder and stir it nicely so that no lumps are formed.
9. Add grated coconut and turn off the stove.
10. It will look like nice upma.So befor it cools down shape it into oval like normal kozhukattai and steam in idli pan for about 8 - 10 mins.

Serve it with coconut chutney or peanut chutney.

Lobia gravy

2010-01-28T22:38:00.000+05:30

This lobia is called Karamani in tamil and black eyed pea in English.This is one simple and easy to make recipe.You can just make it in max 20 mins.More importantly ,Black-eyed peas are an excellent source of calcium (211 mg in a 1 cup serving), folate (209mcg), and vitamin A (1,305 IU), among other nutrients.[2](source wikipedia).Yummy too !!!
Ingredients
Lobia - 1 cup
Tomato - 2 nos.
Onion 2 nos.
Ginger - 1"
Garlic - 3 pods
Green chilly - 2 nos.
Chilly powder - 1tsp
Coriander Powder - 2tsp
Butter/ oil - 2tsp

Method
1. Boil lobia in pressure cooker upto 3 whistles with enough water.
2. Meanwhile, In another pan , add oil or butter .
3. Once the oil is heated add chopped onions and saute till onion turns light brown colour.
4. Then add crushed ginger and garlic into the pan and saute for 10 secs.Now add salt,chopped tomatoes,chilli powder, coriander powder.Fry this for a minute.
5. Pour this sauted mixture into the cooker,add green chilly at this point, stir it twice,close the cooker and give a whistle.
6. Once the pressure comes down , open the lid , stir it and add some butter(optional).

Happy cooking !!

Rasmalai - Perfect for the first time

2010-01-27T16:13:00.001+05:30

I have always thought making rasmalai is a very tough, tedious job to do.I have heard people saying oh Rasmalai it is so tough to make at home.But my opinion changed after seeing this guy's simple video.
So you guys please check out his video for this recipe . Hee Hee ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqLzqg662vs

Sweet Corn Pulao

2010-01-27T10:11:00.000+05:30

Sweet Corn is everybody's favourite.When there is a party and you really want to make something rich, fast and delicious,without a second thought go for this pulao.Be it for dinner or lunch it suits well.I just had really not thought about it nutritional facts until I wanted to post this recipe. But then I learnt that Cooked sweet corn has significant antioxidant activity, which has been suggested to reduce the chance of heart disease and cancer. It has been proven that antioxidants can help prevent aging and increase your lifespan.Happy News isnt it. Here is the recipe .
Ingredients
Sweet Corn - 3/4 cup
Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
Water - 1 and 3/4 cups
Onion - 1 no.
Ginger - 1 "
Garlic- 6 pods
Green chilly - 3 nos.
Coriander leaves - small bunch
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon - small stick
Cardamom - 3 nos.
Butter or oil - 2 tsp.
Salt to Taste.

Method
1. Heat pressure cooker and add butter or oil.
2. Once the oil is heated, add baf leaf, cinnamon, cardamom.after a few seconds add chopped onions and fry until the onion turns into pink colour.
3. Now add ginger and garlic paste and fry for a minute.
4. Then add green chilly and chopped coriander leaves and saute for a few seconds.
5. Add sweet corn and just saute it and add water.once the water starts boiling add rice and pressure cook it for 2 whistles.Sweet corn pulav done.

Soya Pulao

2010-01-26T15:22:00.000+05:30

You have already got up late and got only 30 - 45 mins to get ready with lunch box packed?. Dont you worry ... a very simple yet healthy, tasty and quick soya pulav is there.You dont have to spend time on cutting vegetables.No need to think if it is fresh.By the way, we all know Soya is rich in proteins and no cholestral but do you know it is very rich in iron also.Yes, It Is.
Ingredients
Soya nuggets - 1 cup
Onion - 2 nos.
Tomatoes - 2 nos.
Garam masala/chicken masala/subji masala - 2 spoon
Curd - 2 tbsp.(optional)
Green chilly - 3 nos.
Ginger and garlic paste - 1 spoon
Cinnamon - small stick
cardamom - 3 nos.
Bay leaf - 1 no.
Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Butter or oil - 2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method
1.Soak Soya in hot water for 15 mins.Then drain it out and run it with cold water.Squeeze soya to remove excess water.
2.Mix salt, ginger and garlic paste,little curd to the soya and leave it for sometime.
3. Meanwhile take a pressure cooker and add oil.Once the Oil is heated add cinnamon, bayleaf and cardamom.Then add onion and saute until onion turns into golden brown colour but it should not be burnt.
4. Then add tomoatoes and green chilly and saute for a minute.
5. Now add soya nuggets into the pressure cooker and cook it until almost sll tomatoes are cooked.
6. Add 2 cups of water,enought salt.Once the water starts boiling add rice.
7. Close the lid and cook for 2 whistles.Once the pressure comes down , remove from the gas.

Serve it with Papad and raita.

Egg Aapam

2010-01-26T13:30:00.000+05:30

Egg Appam is a big success at the dinner party.It is same as making regular appam but that after swirling the batter across the pan , crack the egg into the pan on the appam and sprinkle salt and pepper on it. Close the lid and coook it in the medium flame. Cook till the white is cooked . Egg Aapam is ready.

Aapam with stew

2010-01-26T13:18:00.001+05:30

Aapam has been my favourite from my childhood.But I wanted to try it without adding yeast or baking soda as I read somewhere that baking soda and yeast are not good for health.Believe me this tastes as good as made with yeast.I went through lots of aapam recipes over the net but dint get anything right. Finally I thought let me try this simple recipe like how we make dosas.Here is the recipe

Ingredients

Raw Rcie - 1 cup
Idli Rice - 1 cup
Urad Dhal - 1/2 cup
Fenugreek - 1 tsp
Cocunut - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste

Method

For Batter :

Soak Raw Rice and Idli Rice together over night. Soak Urad Dhal with Fenugreek seeds and keep it in the fridge over night.Keeping it in the fridge makes aapam very soft.

First grind Urad Dhal with Fenugreek seeds smooth until you see bubbles in the batter.Then add coconut and grind until cocnut is crushed.Add finally the soaked rice
and grind it coarse. Remember rice should not be ground very smooth.
Ferment it for one day. Batter should be thinner than idli batter so that when poured over the skillet it spreads acroos the skillet well.

Making Aapam :

Heat the appam pan. Once the pan is hot enough,Pour about 2 scoops of the batter and swirl the aapam pan in a clockwise manner so the batter spreads to the edges of the pan. If the pan is hot enough, the batter will coat and hug the sides of the pan. The middle of the aapam is usually thicker and spongy while the edges are thin and crispy.Close the pan with the lid and leave it for few minutes . aapam is done.

Recipe for stew :

Ingredients :

Thin coconut milk - 1 cup
Thick coconut milk - 1 cup
Potato - 2 nos.
Oil - 1 tsp.
Onion - 1 no.
Green chilly - 3 nos.
Ginger - 1 inch
Salt to taste

Method :

Heat the pan and add oil. when the oil is hot enough add green chilly and fry for a minute then add ginger and saute for a couple of minutes.Now add onion and fry till it turns light pink colour. Then add potato , saute for a minute. Put all these into a cooker with thin coconut milk and pressure cook it for 2 sounds from the whistle.

Once the pressure comes down add the thick milk. No need to heat it after adding thick coconut milk.Add salt to taste and stir it. Stew is ready.

Aapam can also be served with sweet coconut milk.

Pittu

2010-01-20T23:24:00.001+05:30

This recipe is inspired from fellow blogger Nithya. Oh man her blog looks just awesome and yes she is my inspiration.The way she had presented this recipe infact made me to try this out.Actually it turned out really well . Yummy it was !! I dint make any modifications to her recipe . Just followed what she had given.link to the recipe is http://4thsensesamayal.blogspot.com/2009/07/pittu.html

Chinese Vegetable Soup

2010-01-20T12:00:00.001+05:30

Being my first post, wanted to start off with my favourite - Sweet Corn.Not sure how this soup has become my favourite either it is so easy to make or it tastes yummy!!. Whatever here the recipe goes ...

Ingregients

Sweet Corn kernels- 1/2 cup
Carrot - 1 no.
Beans - 4 nos.
capsicum - 1 no.
Butter - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Water - 2 cups
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
Salt and pepper to Taste

Method

Dice carrots, beans and capsicum.

Take a pan and add butter. once the butter is melted,add the diced vegetables along with the sugar and saute them for 3 minutes.Meanwhile,mix corn flour in little water to form a paste and dissolve this into the rest of the water so that no lumps are formed.Now add this mixture to the pan and keep stirring for a minute and close it with a lid and leave it until the vegetables are done.Vegetables should not be over cooked.It should remain crunchy.Turn off the stove once the vegetables are cooked.Add salt and pepper to taste.Soup ie ready !!!

Serve it with Toasted bread.Happy Eating!!!