Palakkad Chamayal

Fresh Pea Salad

2012-03-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

Salads and I are poles apart. As far as I remember I have always said no to that simple plate of sliced tomatoes, onions and cucumber seasoned with salt, pepper and a dash of lemon juice, that mom used prepare every day. Since I was least interested, my knowledge about these was restricted to a very few kinds. The few kinds included the ones with the creamy dressing, like the Russian Salad, Waldorf Salad etc. But of course, I never tried making any of them at home.

For this month, The Gourmet Seven decided that we whip up some exotic salads, from 101cookbooks. It was a great experience going through the website and exploring the recipes. Salads as we know are prepared with lots of vegetables, sometimes fruits and also meat with a dressing. The dressing could be anything from a simple lemon juice, salt and pepper to a creamy mayonnaise or hung curd. They are very low in calories, high in fiber, and having a whole bowl can make for a light lunch or dinner. Keeping all this in mind, l will definitely make an attempt to have these at least once in 2 to 3 days.

I picked up this Fresh Pea Salad, for two reasons, one I was intrigued by the mint and date dressing of this salad and second, my lil one loves green peas. I am happy that my younger one likes vegetables, unlike my elder one. Fresh green peas are tossed in a minty date dressing, with the crunch of toasted melon seeds in every bite. It was totally yummy and all of us enjoyed it as a healthy snack rather than a salad. And as expected my daughter loved it.

Source: Adapted from 101Cookbooks

Serves – 2

What you’ll need

Fresh Green Peas – 1 Cup
Dates – 2
Fresh Mint Leaves – 1 handful (tightly packed)
Green chilly – 1 or more (adjust according to taste)
Lemon Juice – from ½ a lemon
Lemon Rind – few scrapings
Melon Seeds – A handful

Method

Blanch the green peas until almost done. Don’t cook until too soft. Retain some crunch.
Heat a Kadai and dry roast the melon seeds until they start popping. Transfer into a plate and keep aside.
Grind together, mint leaves, green chilly, dates, lemon juice and lemon rind until smooth.
Toss the green peas, 2 to 3 spoons of Mint – date dressing and the melon seeds with a touch of salt.
Mix well, add more dressing and adjust salt according to your taste.

Mix with the dressing just before serving.

Avarakkai Thoran/ Broad Beans Thoran

2012-03-02T02:35:00.002-08:00

Life feels so easy and carefree when mom is around. Her mere presence makes me feel at peace with myself. She has always been a source of strength and encouragement to me.

I have been married for 10 years now. Though she has come and stayed with me for long periods of time, but mostly it was when I was working and she used to take care of the entire household for me. I never realized how much she did for me until we moved to a different city far away from her, left alone to fend for myself. This is when I missed my mother a lot. During the initial months after our move, I used to call my mom atleast 10 times a day, for something or the other.

Then after a year or so, my mother came to Hyderabad to live with me for a few days. I wanted to make her happy in every possible way. I did not want her to sit in the kitchen and start doing all the chores for me again, though she can hardly keep away from it. But I did do my best. We went for morning walks, then for grocery and vegetable shopping. I prepared all her favorite dishes; she also prepared some of my favorite dishes, which I have not been able to master yet. In short we both had a fun time together.

My mother generally loves simple food, and here is one such recipe that both me and my mom love.

Serves - 2

What you’ll need

Broad Beans/Avarakkai – 250 gms
Tuar Dal – 2 tbsp
Scraped Coconut (Fresh or Frozen) – 2 tbsp
Green Chilly - 1
Turmeric – a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
Black split gram – 1 tsp
Curry Leaves – few

Method

Wash, string the broad beans and chop them into small pieces.
Wash the dal well and pressure cook it with just enough water for about 2 whistles. The dal should not get mushy.
Grind together green chilly and coconut without adding any water.
Heat a kadai with oil, once heated add mustard seeds.
After the mustard crackles add the black gram, once it starts turning brown add the curry leaves.
Now add the chopped beans, turmeric powder and salt to taste. Mix well.
Sprinkle some water, cover and cook till the vegetable is done. Keep stirring once in a while.
Now add the cooked dal and the coconut green chilly. Mix well.
Remove from heat.

Serve as an accompaniment with plain rice and Sambar or Rasam.

Linking this to Kerala Kitchen hosted by Prathibha, to Nupur's For U Mom, to Rasi's I'm the star, to Only South Indian and to Srav's Vegan Diet.

Gothambu Pradhaman/ Cracked Wheat Pudding - My First Guest Post

2012-02-28T01:19:00.000-08:00

Today’s post is very special to me. This is a guest post for Swathi who blogs @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen. She has a wonderful blog with a wide variety of recipes from cuisines across the world. She has been blessed with a baby boy and I am very happy for her. Wishing you Life’s very best, now and forever. This is my first guest post and I am really honored Swathi. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity.

Coming to the recipe, I wanted to post a traditional Kerala dish, and decided on Gothambu Pradhaman/ Cracked Wheat Pudding. Cracked wheat cooked and simmered in coconut milk sweetened with jaggery. Jaggery and coconut milk spell magic to me. The combo always turns out so very delicious.

Hop over to Swathi's space to check out the post and detailed recipe.

Spinach and Corn Sandwich

2012-02-27T01:58:00.001-08:00

Cooking up something is not a very difficult task, but the answer to the question “What to cook, today?” definitely is. Don’t you think so? Every day, morning, afternoon and night I am plagued by this one question. And just cooking up something also won’t do, especially when it’s for your lil one’s lunch box. It needs to be wholesome, nutritious as well as something which they will like. Now that’s difficult isn’t it? Cos, children as such like very few things, like my lil one would love anything made out of Paneer, sweet corn, next comes cheese, noodles, nutella, peanut butter.etc. See the list of “healthy” favorites!

I literally have to struggle to make my elder one have some veggies. She doesn’t mind it as Pulao but if it’s a stir fry, or some sabzi for rotis, I always face rejection. Anyways, I am also not the one to give up, so I keep coming up with something different every now and then, and she is just too curious to not have it.

Here is a great way of sneaking in some greens into your kid’s meal. I myself am a great fan of these sandwiches. I had these for the first time at Café Coffee Day. I guess, many would’ve tasted these awesome sandwiches there. Also, had them a couple of times in Spice Jet flights. That’s when I realized that my daughter likes these sandwiches and made a special request to prepare these for her at home. These sandwiches have always been in my mind, but I somehow never got around making them, the reason being, that, Spinach was there, corn wasn’t or if corn was available, spinach wasn’t fresh enough and if both were available, then bread was not there. So finally, determined to make these sandwiches, went out to the market and got the ingredients especially for this. So here is my way of making these yummy sandwiches.

Makes 6 sandwiches

What you’ll need

Bread – 12 Slices (I used Whole wheat)
Spinach – finely chopped – 2 Cups
Sweet Corn Niblets – 1 cup
Garlic – 1 clove
Pepper Powder – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Cheese – 1 cube (I used Amul) entirely optional
Butter or Ghee – 1 tsp + more for toasting

Method

Microwave the corn for about 4 mins else boil it. Drain the water completely and set aside.
Heat a non stick pan with a tsp of butter/ghee.
Add finely chopped garlic and sauté.
Next add the finely chopped spinach and sauté till it has wilted completely.
Now add the cooked corn, salt and pepper and give it a good stir.
If adding cheese, grate it and add now. Mix well. Remove from heat.
Allow to cool completely.
Cut the edges of the bread.
On one slice place the required amount of filling and close with another slice.
Toast in a Sandwich maker or grill or on a tawa, using a little butter or ghee.

Healthy and delicious sandwiches are ready to serve with some ketchup.

Linking this to HITS – Healthy Delights, and to CWS – Corn hosted by Shylaja.

Oats, Dates and Almond Shake

2012-02-22T02:12:00.001-08:00

The name itself sounds healthy doesn’t it? This milkshake is not only healthy but very delicious too. We are not a breakfast family, in the sense that we do not sit down for a traditional breakfast of idly chutney, or Puri masala etc, rather we are Oats people, i.e. we have oats kanji (porridge) every single day for breakfast with maybe a banana or a few dates. Now doesn’t that sound really boring! At least it is, for me and my kids. So sometimes just for a change, I prepare some sandwiches or milkshakes, only for me and my kids, the others in the house still prefer to have the same old Oats kanji.

When Saffola, came out with their brand of Oats, at a very competitive price I was tempted to go for it, what with the advertisement for a free recipe booklet with it. So just to collect the recipe booklet I purchased Saffola Oats. Though I have read and seen many recipes using oats, like Idly, Dosa, Upma, Pongal etc, in many blogs, but somehow I was never keen on trying out the Upma and Pongal. I just can’t imagine having a very gooey Pongal or Upma. I did try out the Idly and dosa. I was very happy with the dosa, it was very much like our rava dosa – a little more healthier. But the Idly which I have tried 2 to 3 times is always a disaster. It is just too sticky.

Now coming back to our Saffola Oats recipe booklet, it has a very few recipes but good ones. I have tried out few recipes from it and they were all a hit. So today’s recipe is from the booklet. This delicious Oats shake, enriched with the goodness of almonds and dates is very filling and is definitely healthy but not a boring breakfast. You could also serve it as an afterschool snack for your kids. My children really enjoyed it.

Serves – 2

What you’ll need

Oats – 4 tbsp
Dates – 8 to 10
Almonds – 10
Cold Milk – 2 cups (200 ml)
Honey (optional)

Method

Soak the almonds in hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the skin and set aside.
Deseed the dates and chop them roughly.
Heat a kadai, and dry roast the oats for 3 to 5 minutes. Cool.
In a blender, add the oats, almonds and dates and grind it until everything is powdered well.
Now add the milk gradually and blend until a smooth consistency is obtained.
Pour into glasses and serve chilled garnished with chopped almonds and dates.

Note:
The sweetness from the dates was enough for our taste buds, if you prefer it sweeter add a few drops of honey.

Linking this to Just 4 Fun, Let’s Cook – Something Sweet, Only – Oats, and to HITS – Healthy Delights.

Sweet Corn Tikkis/ Cutlets

2012-02-20T01:41:00.000-08:00

It’s been more than 10 days since I last wrote a post. We had been on a short trip to Tirupati, for my daughter’s mottai and from there on to Chennai for my niece’s Annaprasanam. We all enjoyed the much needed break.

Tea time snacks like samosas, pokodas, bhajjis and bondas are definitely my favorites, but I hardly prepare these at home due to the fact that these are deep fried. Instead I am always in search of recipes that are cooked in less fat, healthy and at the same time tasty too. So here is one such recipe, that I am sure will be loved by one and all.

What you’ll need

1. Sweet corn Niblets – ¾ cup
2. Potato – 1 Medium sized
3. Onion – 1 medium
4. Ginger – a small piece, peeled and grated
5. Bread – 2 or 3
6. Chilli powder – 1 tsp
7. Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
8. Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
9. Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
10. Fresh coriander leaves – few sprigs
11. Salt to taste
12. Oil

Method

Cook the sweet corn niblets slightly, or Microwave on high for 4 minutes.
Cool, keep a handful of corn as is and grind the remaining into a coarse paste without adding any water.
Pressure cook the potato. Cool and mash without any lumps.
Finely chop the onion.
Heat a kadai with a tsp of oil, once the oil is heated, add the fennel seeds.
Next add the chopped onions and grated ginger and sauté till the onions turn light pink.
Remove from heat.
In a wide bowl, add the mashed potato, sweet corn paste, the sweet corn that we kept aside, sautéed onions and ginger, and mix well.
Nicely crumble the bread pieces and add it to the above mixture. Also add finely chopped coriander leaves. Mix well.
Now add the chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and salt to taste. Mix everything well until smooth dough is formed.
Grease your palms and pinch out lemon sized ball out of the mixture and shape them into tikkis.
Heat a non stick frying pan, place a 2 of the prepared tikkis, and drizzle a tsp or 2 or oil around it.
Let this cook on one side, then slowly and carefully flip them over, drizzle a little more and oil and cook until the tikkis are browned well.

Serve with any chutney or simply with tomato ketchup.

Linking this to CWS – Corn hosted by Shylaja and to HITS – Healthy Delights

Vegetable Pulao in Coconut Milk

2012-02-08T01:39:00.000-08:00

Time for yet another edition of Blog Hop Wednesday, and this time I found myself in Archana’s space. She has a wonderful space with some very traditional recipes. Since we mothers have to prepare some healthy lunch box menu for kids every morning, I zeroed in on this Pulao recipe. Pulao being a one pot meal is always my favorite and what’s even better is my kiddo loves it too. What’s special about this pulao is it makes use of coconut milk. The flavor that the coconut milk imparts is awesome. I just loved it and so did the others in the family. So here comes a simple and healthy pulao, especially suited when you are running out of time. I pretty much followed Archana’srecipe excepting a few minor changes and also I went for the pressure cooking method.

Serves 4

What you’ll need

Basmathi Rice- 1 Cup
Mixed Vegetables – 2 Cups ( I used Carrots, Potatoes, Green Peas, Corn)
Onion – 2 Sliced Lengthwise
Tomatoes – 3 Chopped
Green Chilly – 2 Slit
Turmeric Powder – a pinch
Coconut Milk – 1.5 cups
Water – ½ cup
Oil – 1 tbsp
Ghee – ½ tbsp

Spices

Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
Star Anise – a petal of it
Green Cardamom – 2 or 3
Bay Leaf – 1
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick

To grind

Onion – 1 small
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Garlic – 2 to 3 cloves
Fresh Coriander Leaves – a little

Method

Wash basmathi rice and drain it. Keep aside.
Wash peel and chop the vegetables.
Grind all the ingredients mentioned under To Grind, to a smooth paste without adding any water.
Heat a pressure cooker, with the oil and ghee.
Add the items mentioned under spices, one after the other, sauté for a minute.
Next add the sliced onions and slit green chilly. Saute till the onions turn translucent.
Now add the ground paste and turmeric powder and fry till the raw smell disappears. This would take anywhere between 3 to 4 minutes.
Add in the chopped tomatoes and fry till they turn mushy.
Now add the chopped vegetables and fry for a minute.
Next add in the drained rice and fry for a minute.
Add the coconut milk and salt to taste. Stir well.
Cover and cook for 1 whistle.
Once cool, open the cooker and fluff up the rice.

Serve with a raita of your choice.

Note: If you want the rice to be spicier add a green chilly while grinding the masala.

Check out what the other blog hoppers are upto.

Linking this to Blog Hop Wednesdays, Let’s Cook #1 Pulao

Gingered Carrot Almond Soup

2012-02-06T02:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, while I was in the kitchen, preparing the subject of today’s post – Gingered Carrot Almond Soup, both my daughters would just not leave my side. From the time I started chopping the carrots, and blanching the almonds, till blending the cooked carrots. They gave me a tough time yesterday. The moment I started cutting the carrots which were just right in quantity for the soup, my elder one, grabbed almost ¼ th of the chopped carrots and simply popped them in her mouth, saying innocently, mom these carrots are so sweet in taste, why don’t you pack some for my snack box, tomorrow”. I really had to get stern with her, to stop munching on them, so that I had some left for the soup.

Next comes my younger one, eyeing the blanched almonds. “Amma! Give me the cashoos, (pointing to the de skinned almonds)”, she did not leave the place, until I had parted with 5 to 6 almonds. Elder one was not behind; in she came demanding her share of badams. Poor me! Had to give in! Finally I did prepare some soup which would have been just enough for 2 adults but was shared by 4 adults and 2 kids! I had to run into my room with my precious preparation and lock it so as to click some pictures. Phew! All done, served both of them their share and they were very happy. Both my kids just loved the soup and were asking for more!

Though I was fretting about it yesterday, but now while writing this post I am all smiles and I think I did really enjoy the session with my kids. Sometimes, I really wish they wouldn’t grow up so fast!

Soups as I have said in my earlier posts are definitely not my cup of tea! But who would say no to such an exotic combination – Carrots, Almonds and Ginger. I definitely love to try out unusual combos such as these. The velvety smooth and creamy texture of the soup was wonderful. The original recipe called for almond milk, but since I did not have that in hand, I blanched the almonds and ground them along with the cooked carrots. So here is another heartwarming soup perfect for a wintery evening.

Recipe loosely adapted from here.

Serves 4

What you'll need

Carrots – 4 Medium sized
Grated Ginger – 1 tbsp
Almonds – 6 to 8 + 4 for garnishing
Onion – 1 small
Red Chilly Powder – ½ tsp
Rasam Powder – 1 tsp
Black Pepper Powder – ½ tsp
Butter – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander leaves – few sprigs

Method

Wash, peel and chop the carrots roughly.
Blanch the almonds and remove the skin from them.
Slice 4 of the blanched almonds and keep aside for garnishing.
Heat a pan with butter, add the chopped onions and grated ginger. Saute until the onions turn translucent.
Next add the chopped carrots and sauté for a minute.
Now add about 2 cups of water and salt to taste. Cook covered till the carrots are done. Cool.
Blend this along with the blanched almonds into a smooth paste.
Transfer to the pan, add the chilly powder, rasam powder, pepper powder and adjust salt.
Adjust consistency by adding more water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

Transfer into serving bowls and serve garnished with sliced almonds and a sprig of fresh coriander leaves.

Linking this soup to Magic Mingle - Almonds and Ginger, Healthy Diet Event - Warm Soups and to Show me your HITS and to Soup it Up event by Kalyani hosted by Nupur

Beetroot Thoran

2012-02-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

A typical lunch menu in our house would consist of a Sambar and a thoran or mezhukuperatti, or Molaguttal and some tangy pachadi with rice, followed by rice and buttermilk or curds.

Thorans are dry curries perfect with Sambar, Rasam or Mor Kootan. They can be prepared with different vegetables like, Beans, Yard Long Beans, Cabbage, Tender Jackfruit, Raw Papaya etc. They can also be prepared using a combination of veggies like, Cabbage, Carrot and green peas, or Beans and Carrot, Beet and carrot, amaranth leaves etc. These are spiced with a coarse paste of fresh coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds, garnished with fresh aromatic curry leaves. They are generally tempered in just about a tsp or two of coconut oil but any other oil would be just fine.

A variation to the regular thorans is to add cooked dals like Moong dal or tuar dal. Today’s recipe is one such. The dal has to be cooked just right, it should not get mushy.

Serves 2

What you'll need

Beetroot – 2 Medium Sized/ 250 gms
Tuar Dal – 1 tbsp
Scraped Fresh Coconut – 2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
Green Chilly – 1
Curry Leaves – few
Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
Spilt Urad Dal – ½ tsp
Turmeric Powder – a pinch
Salt to taste
Coconut Oil – 2 tsp

Method

Wash, peel and finely chop beetroot.
Wash the tuar dal and add it to a vessel, add just enough water to barely cover the dal.
Now, add the chopped beetroot on top of the dal.
Cook this in the pressure cooker for 2 or 3 whistles.
Heat a Kadai with oil, add the mustard seeds, once they crackle add the urad dal.
Let the dal brown, then add the cooked beet and dal.
Add turmeric powder and salt to taste.
Let this fry for about 4 to 5 minutes or till all the moisture is absorbed.
In the meanwhile, grind the coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds coarsely, without adding water.
Add this ground paste to the beetroot after all the moisture has been absorbed. Mix well and remove from heat.

That’s it healthy and tasty beetroot thoran is ready.

Linking this to Show me your HITS - Healthy Delights and to the Kerala Kitchen hosted by Roshan.

Kerala Kitchen - Roundup

2012-02-03T01:59:00.000-08:00

Here is the round up of the Kerala Kitchen Event. I thank Rose for giving me this opportunity to host this wonderful event. The sheer number of entries received shows how popular this event is. I thank each and every blogger friend who sent in there wonderful creations and showed their love and support. I received a whopping 90 entries. The entries are listed in random order. So enjoy this virtual treat, friends!

Sobha Shyam of Good Food sends us 7 yummy entries

Sweet Poha/ Aval Nanchathu

Soya Chunks Kurma

Vegetable Stew

Rava Laddu

Paneer Stuffed Paniyaram

Aval Payasam/ Poha Kheer

Corn Bonda

Rose of Magpies Recipes sends us

Kerala Style Pork Chops

Payar Mezhukuperutti

Sudha of Avial and Rasam sends us

Parikkai Ulli Theeyal

Vidhya of Sugar N Spice sends us

Chakka Varatti

Kerala Boli

Ramya of Ramya’s Recipes sends us these 4 delicious entries

Potato Thoran

Potato Egg Rice

Marble Cake

Vegetable Pulav

Prathibha KV of Cook Ezee sends us these entries

Vazhakoombu Thoran/ Banana Stem Stir Fry

Burdock Root Thoran

Achinga Payar – Vanpayar Thoran

Meen Curry (Kannur Style)

Cabbage Thoran with Carrot and Green Peas

Paal Payasam

Priya of Priya’s Easy and Tasty Recipes sends us the following

Kaya Mezhukkupuratti

Cherupayar Thoran

Kappa Thoran

Faseela of Good Food Ends with Good Talk sends us 15 wonderful entries

Tri Colored Stir Fry

Green Apple Chammanthi

Cherupayar Thoran

Paalada Payasam

Brinjal Fry

Broad Beans Stir Fry

Indrani of Recipe Junction sends us

Beet & Carrot Thoran

Asiya Omar of My Healthy Happy Kitchen sends us

Beans Mezhukkupuratti

Vidhya Viju Govind of A Portion to Share sends us

Prawn Masala

Banana Stem Stir Fry

Spicy Tangy Fish Curry

Julie of Erivum Puliyum sends us 12 yummy treats

Vermicelli Upma

Eggless Marble Cake

Pure Grape Wine

Christmas Fruit Cake/Plum Cake

Chicken Dum Biriyani

Cilantro Dates Chutney

Ari Pathiri

Dilkush

Vermicelli Kheer

Kappa Vevichathu & Fish Curry in Tamarind Sauce

Mushroom Paneer Pulao

Soya Cutlets

Misha Pratheesh of Kitchen Magic sends us these

Kaipakka Pachadi

Kai Pathiri and Nadan Chicken Curry

Kaya Baji and Mulakku Bajji

Jehanne of The Cooking Doctor sends us

King Prawn Biryani

Reena Vimesh of Achu's Amma'a Kitchen sends us

Pavakka Achar

Chandrani of Cuisine Delights sends us

Chickpeas Curry Kerala Style

Banana Halwa

Bitter Gourd Thoran

Cauliflower Potato Masala – Kerala Style

Sona of Spill the Spices sends us

Mixed Vegetable Thoran

Reshmi Mahesh of Easy Cook sends us

Tapioca Salad

Elaneer Shake

Vazhapoo/Vazhathatta Thoran

Sadhana of Sensible Veg sends us

Cauliflower & Pattani Kootu

Roshni Chandrasekar of Roshni’s Kitchen sends us

Ulli Theeyal

Vendakka Kichadi

Hema of Aromatic Cooking sends us

Kerala Style More Kuzhambu

Suja of Kitchen Corner – Try it sends us

Cheerathandu Mooru Curry

Sojo of My Culinary Experiments sends us

Avalose Podi

Avalose Unda

Mixture

Sona Santhosh of Quick Picks sends us

Cornmeal Idiyappam with egg roast

Kokila Karthikeyan of Foodies Nest sends us

Tapioca Vadai

Harini of Sugar n Spice sends us

Aapam

Vegetable Stew

Shylaja of South Indian Recipes sends us

Nenthrampazham Halwa

Vineetha of Ruchi sends us

Malabar Kozhi Nirachathu

Rinku of Kitchen Treats sends us

Malabar Aripathiri with Chicken Roast

Ayeesha of Taste of Pearl City sends us

Prawn Biriyani

Jaleela Banu of Cook Book Jaleela sends us this thoran

Broccoli Carrot Thoran

Sangee Vijay of Spicy Treats sends us this Kerala favorite

Red Rice flour Puttu

Dhyuthi of Melange sends us these soft Pathiris

Pathiri

Here are the winners of the Kerala Kitchen – January 2012

Julie’s Christmas Fruit Cake/Plum Cake wins the Best Dish

Prathibha KV’s Vazhakoombu Thoran wins the Best Pic

Faseela is the Top Contributor with a whopping 15 entries.

Please feel free to drop me a line in case I have missed out on any of your entries in this roundup!

Chocolate Truffles - For The Gourmet Seven

2012-01-31T01:30:00.000-08:00

Here comes my first post for The Gourmet Seven. Chocolates are synonymous with Love, be it the love shared between a parent and a child or a husband and a wife or simply between two friends. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, love is in the air. So the theme for this month was chocolate and the source was BBC Good Food. Scouring the website was a visual treat in itself. To tell you the truth I was going through it for the first time and I have a big list of bookmarked recipes to try out. For today’s post I chose these simple yet decadent Chocolate Truffles. These could be the perfect gift for your loved ones.

Chocolate truffles, rich bite sized rounds, made from a creamy mixture of chocolate, cream and butter. These are generally flavored with a small quantity of alcohol or any other extracts or fruit purees. A chocolate Truffle is purposefully rolled into mis-shaped rounds to resemble their namesake fungi that grow around the roots of trees in France and Italy. These are traditionally rolled in unsweetened cocoa powder to give them the look of dirt that the real fungi grow in, they can also be coated in toasted chopped nuts, icing sugar or toasted desiccated coconut.

What you’ll need

Bittersweet Chocolate or Milk Chocolate – 250 gms
Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream – 125 ml
Unsalted Butter – 2 tbsp

For coating the truffles

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Icing Sugar
Toasted Chopped Nuts
Toasted Desiccated Coconut

Method

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in a glass bowl.
Add the cream and butter to a saucepan.
Heat this on a medium flame and remove from heat just when you start seeing the sides of the cream bubbling. (Do not let it boil)
Add this cream and butter mixture to the chocolate and let it sit for about a minute.
Now slowly stir in and mix well, until and chocolate is melted and blended well with the cream. This is called Ganache.
If the chocolate hasn’t melted fully, microwave for about a minute.
Mix it well, cover with a cling film and refrigerate for several hours or overnight until the ganache is firm.
Keep the ingredients for coating the truffles ready in separate bowls.
Remove the set ganache from the refrigerator, scoop out about a tbsp of ganache, with the help of a spoon or a melon baller or a small ice cream scoop, and shape them into balls quickly. Roll into any of the coatings of cocoa powder or chopped nuts, icing sugar etc. The choice is entirely yours. Place the prepared truffles on a plate and keep the refrigerated until serving.

Note:

I have not flavored them with any kind of alcohol or puree. If you want to, then add it to the ganache mix well and refrigerate.
Work quickly while preparing the truffles as the ganache tends to melt easily.
Keep the truffles always refrigerated.
They store for about a couple of weeks when refrigerated.

Lauki ki Kheer

2012-01-30T01:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my lil one turned 2. Time has just flown by. I still remember the day, my younger one, came into our lives. She came into this world on Jan 29th 2010 at 3:00 am. And since then, till today, there has not been a single day that she hasn’t woken up at around 3.00 am. I don’t know what kind of coincidence it is! But somehow she just wakes up at around that time cries for a few minutes and then back to sleep.

Apart from that, obviously, she keeps me busy the whole day, except for the 2 hours she sleeps in the afternoon and that’s time I get to do some blogging. In one of my older posts I had mentioned how she had just started talking, and now she talks continuously. Her interests have also changed, earlier, she was not interested in anything that came on T.V. rather would run around the house doing some mischief or the other, but now, she is very attentive and grasps all the catchy commercials and tamil numbers, her favorite being Kolaveri and Chammak Challo!

So yesterday, for her birthday, we ordered a cake and I prepared this Kheer. It was just a family affair. I prepared this kheer for the first time and it was liked by all. Both my kids, who generally don’t like kheers, were asking for more. What more do I want!

Serves: 5

What you’ll need

Milk – 1 litre ( 5 cups)
Grated Bottlegourd/ Lauki – 3 cups
Sweetened Condensed Milk – ¼ cup
Sugar – ¼ to ½ cup (adjust according to taste)
Green Cardamom/ elaichi – 4
Ghee – 1tbsp

Method

Pour the milk in a heavy bottomed vessel and bring it to a boil.
Once the milk starts boiling, let it simmer for about 10 minutes or till the milk has reduced by 1/4th. Keep stirring in between.
Wash, peel and deseed the bottlegourd. Grate it. Squeeze out the excess water from the gourd.
Heat another Kadai with ghee. Add the grated bottle gourd and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes.
Once the milk has reduced, add the condensed milk and mix well.
Now add the sautéed gourd to the milk and let it simmer for another 5 to 8 minutes.
Next add the sugar, mix well and cook for another 7 to 8 minutes.
Coarsely powder the cardamom and add it.
That’s it, yummy Lauki ki kheer is ready.

Serve it warm or cold.

Note:
You could fry cashews and raisins in a little ghee and add for extra garnish.

Linking this to Veggie/Fruit of the month – Bottlegourd hosted by Raji

And to ABC Series – Desserts, hosted by Ramya
And to Cook Eat Delicious hosted by Suma

Tomato Rice

2012-01-27T01:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I had some guests and after hosting the dinner, I had lots of leftovers, especially rice. After the night’s tedious work I woke up quite late today morning and was wondering what to prepare for my daughter’s lunch box. While rummaging through the fridge, I saw some ripe tomatoes, begging for attention. So I decided to prepare this quick fix tomato rice, perfect for a lunch box and also a perfect way to use up my leftover rice.

I think each household has a different way of preparing this dish, with variations in the blend of spices. I have tasted lots of versions and I love each and every one of them. I myself prepare 2 to 3 versions. The one I am sharing today is by far the simplest one.

Serves 2

What you’ll need

Cooked Rice – 2 ½ cups
Onion – 2 medium
Tomatoes – 4 Medium
Fresh/Frozen Green Peas - 2 handfuls (optional)
Green Chillies – 1
Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp
Fennel Seeds – ½ tsp
Turmeric Powder – a big pinch
Chilly Powder – ½ to 1 tsp
Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
Curry Leaves – a few
Coriander Leaves – few
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 to 3 tsp
Ghee – 2 tsp

Method

Finely chop onions and tomatoes. Slit the green chilly.
Cook the green peas in water, drain and keep aside.
Heat oil and ghee in a Kadai, once the oil is heated, add the mustard seeds, cumin and fennel seeds. Also add in the curry leaves.
Next add the chopped onions and slit green chilly, sauté.
Once the onions start browning, add the turmeric powder, and fry for a minute.
Next add in the chopped tomatoes and salt. Fry till the tomatoes turn mushy and the oil starts separating.
Now add in the green peas, chilly powder, and garam masala powder. Mix well.
Finally add the cooled and cooked rice and mix well. Adjust salt.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Tasty Tomato Rice is ready.

Linking this to Let’s Cook – Rice and Let's Cook with Leftovers.

Vegetable Cutlets

2012-01-23T01:50:00.000-08:00

The other day while surfing channels, I saw the advertisement for Vim Liquid, where the lady says, “Cooking is rather simple, in fact, it is only a matter of spoons, a teaspoon of this and a teaspoon of that.”

Is cooking really only a matter of spoons? Do everybody who follow recipes to the dot from a cookery book, end up with a delicious meal? I personally don’t think so. In my opinion, cooking is an art, which is developed through patience and practice. It is not mathematics or physics that you write in some formulae and are sure to get the right result. Haven’t there been times, when you’ve added all the right ingredients, in the right proportions and followed the recipe exactly but ended up with a failed venture? Also, though most people cook, only few have it in them to whip up tasty food each and every time. What do you say friends?

Today I am sharing the recipe for a simple vegetable cutlet, which is one my favorite snacks. I love the cutlet that is served in the Brindavan Express Train, from Bangalore to Chennai. No, No, the recipe is not from the chief cook of Brindavan Express, rather it is my SIL’s MIL’s :)

Makes about 20 cutlets

What you need

Potatoes – 2 big
Carrots – 2
Beetroot – 1 small
Green Peas – 2 handfuls
Bread Slices – 5
Fresh Coriander Leaves – little
Mint Leaves – 10 – 12 leaves
Fennel Seeds – 1 tsp
Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
Cumin Powder – ½ tsp
Chilli Powder – ½ to 1 tsp (acc to taste)
Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
For coating the cutlet
Maida/All purpose Flour – 2 tbsp
Water as required
Bread Slices – 7 to 8
Oil to deep Fry

Method

Pressure cook the potatoes, carrots and beets. Once cool, remove from cooker and mash the vegetables thoroughly.
Boil the green peas separately in water. Strain and keep aside.
Add the boiled green peas and mix well.
Break the bread slices into smaller pieces and mix it well with the vegetables.
Add Fennel seeds, coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder and salt to taste. Mix everything well.
Finally add finely chopped coriander leaves and pudina leaves and mix.
Shape into cutlets and keep aside.
Take the flour in a bowl, add water little by little and make a paste to coat the cutlets.
Powder the bread slices in a mixer and keep aside.
Heat oil for deep frying in a pan.
Take the prepared cutlets one by one, coat it in the flour paste and then roll it in the bread crumbs.
Deep fry the cutlets until they are well browned.

Note:

You can avoid the beets. But I personally like beets in my cutlets.
While pressure cooking the vegetables, add very little water in the vegetables, else the veggie mixture may become too watery and you will find it difficult to shape.
In case you feel the veggie mixture is very soggy, add more bread slices. It will absorb the moisture.
Shallow fry the cutlets for a healthier version.

The Gourmet Seven – On a Gastronomic Journey

2012-01-20T02:41:00.000-08:00

Blogging started as a past time hobby but has now become a part of me. It has not only given me a window to express myself and showcase my recipes, but also introduced me to a beautiful world of virtual friends. Though we have not met in person, our faces light up with child like delight as soon as we see a good post or a beautiful picture on a friend’s space.

Anusha of Tomato Blues

Kalyani of Sizzling Tastebuds

Radhika of Tickling Palates

Sangeetha of Spicy Treats

Vardhini Zesty Palette

Veena of Veg Junction

Kaveri of Palakkad Chamayal

So what is common to us? You’re right! No marks for guessing, we are all bloggers whose common interest is cooking. When like minds met, The Gourmet Seven was ignited and you will see it glow, in the coming months.

So what is the Gourmet Seven all about?

In the first week of every month, starting Feb 2012, The Gourmet Seven will serve a visual feast of gourmet food from a commonly available recipe source. Our journey starts with some chocolaty treats. So come join us, in this Gastronomic Journey.

Manga Saadam/ Mamidikaya Annam/ Raw Mango Rice

2012-01-18T01:48:00.000-08:00

A couple of month’s back I had won a giveaway for the event Healing Foods – Coconut, sponsored by Siri. She sent me this wonderful book, Cooking At Home with Pedatha. Thanks a lot Siri. The book is a collection of simple, traditional and authentic Andhra Recipes. I was stunned by the way these simple recipes were photographed. Each one looks tempting and delicious. I tried out a few recipes from the book and today I am sharing one of them: The famous Mamidikaya Annam or Manga Saadam/Mango Rice.

Raw mango is widely used in most cuisines during the season, and so is the case in Andhra. Raw mango or mamidkaya is used in dals, gravies, chutneys etc. I got few fresh raw mangoes and some raw bananas, right from the backyard of my H’s Granny’s place. So armed with these fresh mangoes I set about to make this simple, tangy yet very delicious rice. I packed it for my lil ones lunch and we had the remaining. It was sure shot hit with my family, who are ardent mango lovers.

What you’ll need

Raw Rice – 1 Cup
Sour Raw Mango – 1 small
Salt to taste

Grind to paste

Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
Scraped Fresh Coconut – ½ Cup
Green Chilly - 1
Fresh Coriander Leaves – 1 tbsp

For Tempering

Channa Dal – 1 tsp
Urad Dal – 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
Dried Red Chillies – 1 or 2
Asafoetida powder – ¼ tsp
Curry Leaves – few
Ground nuts – 1 tbsp
Oil – 1 tbsp

Method

Wash the rice and cook it until soft but not mushy. Spread on a big plate to cool.
Wash peel and grate the mango.
Grind together, the mustard seeds, coconut and coriander leaves to a smooth paste adding very little water.
Heat a Kadai with oil, add the mustard seeds, once they start crackling add the channa dal, urad dal, groundnuts and fry until the dals turn golden.
Next add in the Dry red chilli, and finally add the hing and curry leaves.
Add the grated mango and a pinch of turmeric powder. Saute for about 2 to 3 minutes on medium flame.
Next add the ground paste and fry for a minute.
Finally add the cooked rice and salt. Mix well and remove from heat.

That’s it tangy and flavorful Mamidikaya Annam is ready. Serve with papads.

Linking this to Let’s Cook – Rice.

Bagara Baingan - A Hyderabadi Special

2012-01-16T01:19:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Pongal celebration. We too had a good time. Though I wanted to post some pongal related recipes, I could not click any pictures. So I’ll have to postpone it to some other time.

Today I am sharing this very very yummy recipe of Bagara Baingan – A Hyderabad Special.

I’m really not a fan of eggplants. I was very speculative about tasting this Hyderbadi Eggplant specialty. But just decided to do so, since the gravy looked too tempting. And I really have no regrets for having done it, this was so YUMMY! I got the recipe from my cousin, at whose place I had it and recreated it at home. It was an instant hit with family. Since then I have made it a number of times.

Traditionally the eggplants are fried in oil and then simmered in fragrant and spicy gravy, slowly absorbing all the yummy flavors.

Don’t let the list of ingredients and procedure scare you. This is definitely a must try for all those eggplant lovers. So let’s get to the recipe:

What you’ll need

Tender Purple Brinjals – 10 Nos.
Onion – 2 Medium
Ginger – a small piece
Garlic – 3 to 4 cloves
Tamarind Paste – 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
Chilly Powder – ½ tsp
Sugar – ½ tsp
Salt to taste

For the Masala paste

Groundnuts – 1tbsp
Sesame seeds/Til/ - 1 tbsp
Coriander Seeds – ½ tbsp
Dry Red Chillies – 2 or 3 (Adjust according to taste)
Scraped Coconut – 1 tbsp
Onion – 1/2

For Tempering

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
Jeera/Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
Fennel Seeds – ½ tsp
Dried Red Chilly – 1
Fenugreek Seeds – ¼ tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp

Method

Heat a Kadai, Dry roast groundnuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds one by one and keep aside
Add a tsp of oil in the same Kadai, and fry the Dry red chillies and coconut for a few minutes or till the coconut slightly changes color.
Grind the groundnuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, red chillies, coconut, half a raw onion and salt into a coarse paste. You can add a little water while grinding.
Slit brinjals, from back, in such a way that the stalk is retained.
Stuff the brinjals with the stuffing. Use as required and keep the rest of the masala paste for later use.
Heat a Non stick pan with oil, temper with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel, fenugreek and dry red chilly.
Now add in sliced onions, and sauté for about a minute.
Next add in grated ginger and crushed garlic. Sauté well till the onions turn light brown.
Now place the brinjals carefully into the pan, one by one and fry it for a few minutes.
Cover and cook for few minutes till the brinjals are half done.
Add the remaining masala paste turmeric powder, Chilly powder, tamarind paste, sugar and salt to taste.
Add a cup of water.
Cover and cook on medium heat till the brinjals are completely done. Stir once in a while so as not to burn the gravy. Add more water if necessary.
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Serve with rice or rotis.

Linking this to Dish it out - Brinjals and Garlic hosted by Sangee Vijay

Marie Biscuit Chocolate Logs

2012-01-11T01:29:00.000-08:00

This chocolate delight I can say, was my first attempt at making something sweet and edible. I was in Class 9 or 10, and tasted this at my friend’s place. Fell in love with it immediately and when I came to know that she was the one who had prepared it, I immediately asked for the recipe. Came home, asked mom for the ingredients, thankfully everything was available readily and prepared it right then. I enjoyed the whole process of making it and it was quite a hit. I used to prepare it whenever I had a craving to eat something chocolaty. But somewhere down the lane, I forgot about it totally. When I was browsing through Gayathri’s space for this week's Blog Hop, I saw the name Marie Biscuit Chocolate Log. Immediately I checked out the recipe and it was what I had expected. Preparing this yummy chocolate treat brought back so many sweet memories. A Big Thanks to Gayathri. You can find the original recipe here.

Makes 2 small logs

What you’ll need

Marie Biscuit – 24
Warm Milk – ½ cup
Sugar – 5 tbsp + 1 tsp (increase or decrease acc to taste)
Butter – 50 gms (approx 4 tbsp)
Cocoa Powder – 1 tbsp
Broken cashew nuts – a little

Method

In a bowl, add the warm milk and a tsp of sugar. Mix well.
Dip the Marie biscuit one by one in the milk, remove it and stack them one on top of the other. (I stacked 12 biscuits in one log.)
Powder the remaining sugar.
In a bowl, mix together, butter, cocoa Powder and sugar to form a smooth cream.
Apply this cream on the biscuit logs, using a knife. Smoothen as much as possible.
Sprinkle some broken nuts on top.
Refrigerate for 2 hours.

That’s it our yummy chocolate logs are ready. Cut into pieces and serve them.

Linking this to Blog Hop Wednesday

Sravani’s Chocolate Fest

Srivalli’s Chocolate Mela
Anyone Can Cook - Series 37
Ramya's ABC Series Desserts

Spiced Hot Chocolate

2012-01-09T01:10:00.000-08:00

Hot chocolate is something I order most of the times in coffee shops. When I was looking for a hot chocolate recipe to try at home, I found many spiced up versions. Thought of giving a try to this unusual combination of Chilly, Chocolate and Cinnamon. It was quite good, very chocolatey, with the wonderful flavor of cinnamon and the slight heat of the chilly. On the whole a lovely combo. Do try it.

Serves – 2

What you’ll need

Milk – 2 Cups (about 200 ml)
Dark Cooking Chocolate – 75 gms, chopped into small pieces
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
Red Chilli Powder – a pinch
Sugar – as per taste

Method

Pour the milk in a vessel, add the cinnamon stick and bring it to a boil. Stir it once in a while.
In the meanwhile, melt the chocolate using a double boiler.
Add the melted chocolate, red chilli powder and sugar to the milk and stir well.
Remove from heat and pour into mugs.

That’s it. Enjoy!

Linking this to Kalyani's Magic Mingle - Chillies and Cinnamon

Thiruvadira Kali / Thiruvadira Special

2012-01-04T02:25:00.000-08:00

Thiruvadira as I’ve mentioned in my previous post, is celebrated as Lord Shiva’s Birthday in Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala. This year it falls on the 8^th of January 2012.

Think Thiruvadira, the only thing that comes to my mind is the Kali – a sweet dish made of jaggery and roasted rice powder and Kootu – a savory dish made of root vegetables like Sweet Potato, Kavatthu, Pumpkin and (Avarakkai), which is made especially on this day. It is a rare combination of sweet rice upma with a savory vegetable curry. Women wake up in the wee hours and prepare these neivedyams, which are then offered to Lord Shiva and Parvathy before sunrise. People generally visit the Shiva Temple.

Before marriage, mom would prepare everything and I would get ready in time for the neivedyam. After marriage, I would stand and closely watch my MIL prepare these traditional dishes with ease. Today I am sharing the recipe for Kali. This is my MIL’s recipe and is really fool proof. I never thought preparing Kali was so simple until I made it myself last year.

Serves – 4

What you’ll need

Raw Rice – 1 Cup
Moong Dal – ¼ Cup
Powdered Jaggery – 2 Cups
Grated Fresh Coconut – 1 Cup
Green Cardamom – 4 to 5
Ghee – 1 tbsp

1. Method

Wash and drain the rice. Spread the rice in a muslin cloth and let it dry in shade for about ½ an hour.
Dry roast the rice in a Kadai till it starts turning reddish. Cool completely and powder into a rava consistency. Transfer into a bowl.
Also roast the Moong dal till a nice aroma comes out. Cook the Moong dal with little water.
Cook the rice rava with 2 and ½ cups of water for 3 whistles.
In the meanwhile, Heat a Kadai, add the powdered jaggery and dissolve it using ¼ cup of water. Strain for impurities and heat the syrup again.
Add the grated coconut in the Jaggery syrup.
Now, add the cooked dal, and rice rava. Mix vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes until everything forms a homogenous mixture.
Add the ghee and stir again.
Crush the cardamom and add it. Mix again.

1. Thiruvadira Kali is ready.

Note:

1. 2 Cups of Jaggery gave the right amount of sweetness. You can increase or decrease the amount of Jaggery according to your taste.

2. You could also add roasted Cashewnuts and raisins, but in the traditional recipe nothing other than coconut is added.

Linking this to the Kerala Kitchen hosted by me
Radhika's Let's Cook - Rice
Anu's Cook with Spices - Cardamom

Strawberry Milkshake

2012-01-02T02:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a really simple recipe to kick start the New Year! Milkshake of any kind is our family favorite. My daughter loves strawberries; somehow I am not a huge fan of these sour berries. But I sure love the lovely pink milkshake made out of these.

Talking of Milkshakes reminds me of my college days in Cochin. I have never had as many different kinds of milkshakes ever after that. There were so many different varieties available, Sharjah Shake, Oman Shake, Date Shake, and Dry Fruits Shake are just a few to name. These milkshakes used to be so thick, that we were given a straw as well as a spoon to have it.

Here’s my way of preparing the Strawberry Milkshake.

Serves: 3

What you’ll need

Strawberries – 10 to 12
Cold Milk – 3 Cups
Vanilla Ice Cream – 2 Scoops (Optional)
Sugar – According to taste

Method

Wash the berries and chop them roughly.
Blend the berries and sugar until smooth.
Next add the ice cream and milk and blend until frothy.

Transfer into serving glasses. Serve chilled.

Note: Adding ice cream is totally optional, but using it gives a nice creamy texture.
You could use full cream instead of ice cream too.

Announcing Kerala Kitchen

2012-01-01T07:38:00.000-08:00

A very Happy New Year to all!

I take immense pleasure in announcing this month’s Kerala Kitchen.

Kerala Kitchen is an event started by Rose and Magpie which showcases Kerala dishes.

So prepare a traditional (or contemporary!)Kerala dish and send it to The Kerala Kitchen.

Here are the rules--

Here at the Kerala Kitchen, we like to keep things simple, so there are no strict rules as such, and anyone can join in all the fun! It doesn't matter if you have never tried Kerala cuisine and want to learn all about it, or if you are a Pachakarani who would like to share your vast knowledge with some enthu newbies :) You are not restricted from sending your entries to any other contests, in fact we actively encourage you to participate in as many as you can!
Simply cook a dish (or as many as you like) that is inspired by Kerala. Be it a traditional Malayali dish like Idiyappam or Kappa and Puzhukku, or your unique take on it, even a dish that features a flavour or ingredient that reminds you of Kerala but may not be typical Malayali fare (like coconut macarons maybe?) and post it on your blog anytime before or on the 31st of this month.
No archived entries allowed.
Post the recipe on your blog between Jan 1st and Jan 31st 2012, and link it to my announcement page and to the Kerala Kitchen page.
Email the following details to kaverivenkatesh@gmail.com with the subject line Kerala Kitchen.

Your Name

Blog Name/URL

Recipe Name

Recipe URL

Photograph

Happy cooking!! Looking forward to seeing your entries!!

Arisi Upma / Rice Rava Upma

2011-12-27T21:22:00.000-08:00

Upma is a popular breakfast item in South India. It is generally made of Rava or Sooji with a combination of vegetables and generous amounts of Ghee. Other variations prepared with Semiya/ Vermicilli, Cracked Wheat, Rice Rava, Rice Flakes/ Aval and now Oats are also very common. Even though it is very popular, and people would gladly have it in hotels, somehow, when made at home, it is not very well accepted.

When I decide to make upma mostly for dinner, (since we generally don’t have breakfast), my husband will invariably ask me “Oh! Upma va!!” Followed by statements like, “You keep watching so many cookery shows, and always keep noting down recipes. Is it only to make this Upma?” In return I would say something and it would go on. In the end, most of the times he will win the battle and I will end up making something else.

But, now with my older one also at home, there’s hardly any time to enter the kitchen. Most of my time goes by in sorting out sibling rivalries. And moreover hubby dear is not in town, so it is upma in all forms and shapes on most nights. It is really simple to make and gets ready in no time. A boon when you’re pressed for time and thankfully my elder one likes any kind of upma.

So while, going through Divya’s space, my partner for this week’s blog hop, I saw different kinds of upma recipes. I decided to make Arisi Upma. I have pretty much followed her recipe but for a few changes and also I used the pressure cooker to cook, as the upma gets ready real quick in the cooker.

Serves: 2

What you’ll need

1. Raw Rice – 1 cup
2. Toor Dal – A fistful
3. Grated Fresh Coconut – ¼ cup (optional)

For Tempering

1. Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp
2. Split Urad Dal – 1 tsp
3. Channa Dal – 1 tsp
4. Hing/Asafetida – a pinch
5. Dried Red Chillies – 2 broken
6. Curry Leaves –few
7. Oil – 1 tbsp

Method

1. Wash the rice and dal well and spread it on a kitchen towel to dry in shade.
2. Once all the rice has become dry, grind the rice and dal into a coarse powder. (Rava/ Sooji consistency)
3. Heat a Pressure pan/cooker with oil, add mustard seeds, once they pop, add the urad dal, and channa dal, and dry red chillies, fry till they change color. Finally add the hing and curry leaves.
4. Now add about 2 or max 2 and ½ (depending on your rice type) cups of water, and let it boil.
5. Add the grated coconut and salt to taste.
6. Now add the rice and dal powder and stir well.
7. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook on high flame till the steam starts coming out through the vent.
8. Now place the whistle and cook on low flame for about 5 to 8 minutes. Turn off heat.
9. After the pressure is released, open the cooker and give the upma a good stir.

That’s it, healthy, tasty and easy upma is ready. Serve with a chutney or Sambar.

Linking this to Blog Hop Wednesdays.

Koova Kali / Arrowroot Halwa - Thiruvathira Special

2011-12-26T03:15:00.000-08:00

Season’s Greetings!

Thiruvathira is a festival celebrated in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. This festival falls in the Dhanu Month (Dec 15 to Jan15th) on the full moon day and is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Shiva.

Traditionally, in our home, the ladies would wake up very early, have bath and prepare some special offerings called Kali and Kootu. These are then placed on individual plantain leaves, one for one lady with a banana and beetel leaf. These are then offered as neivedyam to Lord Shiva and later on eaten by the ladies. The neivedyam is supposed to be offered before sunrise. And then they go to a nearby Shiva Temple for the Aarudradarshanam. Women folk generally, chew beetal leaf, enjoy themselves on the swings and certain communities perform a special dance known as Thirvathirakali.

Koova Kali or Arrowroot halwa is also one of the offerings prepared especially on this day. I was introduced to this only after marriage and now make it on every Thiruvathira, sometimes even on other days, while craving for something sweet. I enjoy having this more than the Kali or the Kootu. It is really very simple to make and nobody can go wrong with this. So here is the recipe for this:

What you’ll need

1. Arrowroot Powder/Koova Podi – ½ cup
2. Powdered Jaggery – ¾ cup
3. Grated Fresh Coconut – 1 Tbsp (Optional)
4. Cardamom Powder – a pinch
5. Ghee/Clarified Butter – 4 tsp + a little for greasing
6. Cashew Nuts – for Garnish
7. Water – 1 cup + 1/3 cup of dissolving Jaggery

Method

1. Grease a plate and a flat back cup (davara).
2. Dissolve the jaggery in about 1/3 cup of water. Strain for impurities and heat it on medium flame. Add the grated Coconut to the syrup and let it keep boiling on medium flame.
3. In a Kadai, add the arrowroot powder and 1 cup of water, mix it well without forming any lumps.
4. Place the kadai on medium heat and keep stirring, after sometime say about 3 to 4 minutes, mixture will start thickening and will change color from white to transparent.
5. Now add the Jaggery syrup and stir well. You will feel as if lumps have formed, but keep stirring well and smash the lumps with the back of the spatula.
6. Add about 3 tsp of ghee and stir. The mixture will start leaving the sides, and come as a whole mass. Add another spoon of ghee mix and transfer to a greased plate.
7. Level it with the back of a greased cup. Cut into desired shapes once cool. Decorate with cashewnuts.

Note:

No particular paakam (Jaggery syrup consistency) is required to be formed.

Green Peas Paratha/ Matar Ka Paratha

2011-12-22T02:39:00.000-08:00

Stuffed Parathas have become something very common in my household these days. These are one of the best ways of making your kids have some veggies. Both my daughters like them a lot. My elder one is always asking me, “Mom! So what’s inside today’s paratha?” In order to maintain the surprise element, I keep experimenting with various kinds of fillings.

Now, since winter has set in, markets are getting flooded with loads and loads of Fresh green peas. It's time to put these tiny green pearls to good use and of course to do away with the frozen ones. (At least for the time being!) I add a handful of these into almost all the curries I make. During these months, I end up making these green peas parathas every now and then, where the peas are not merely add ons but the main attraction! These were loved by my 2 year old daughter who was having them for the first time. She liked them so much, that she insisted on having them for dinner as well.:) Now off to the recipe:

For the dough
1. Wheat flour – 2 cups
2. Oil – 1 tbsp
3. Salt to taste
4. Water as required for kneading
For the filling
1. Fresh Green Peas – 1 cup
2. Ginger – 1 inch piece
3. Red Chilly Powder – 1 tsp
4. Ajwain /Omam – ½ tsp
5. Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
6. Roasted Gram Dal Powder/ pottukadali podi – 1 to 2 tsp
7. Salt to taste
8. Oil – 1 tsp

Method

1. In a bowl, add the wheat flour, salt and oil. Rub this well with your finger tips. Add water little by little and knead into a soft and pliable dough. Keep covered until further use.
2. Boil the peas until ¾ done. Strain and keep aside. After it cools down, grind it coarsely.
3. Heat a kadai with oil, add grated ginger and fry well.
4. Now add the ground peas, red chilly powder, ajwain, garam masala and salt to taste. Mix well.
5. Finally, add a tsp or 2 or the roasted gram dal powder. This is added to remove all the excess moisture. Let this cool.
6. For making the parathas, pinch out a lemon sized ball from the dough, roll out into a small disc. Place a spoonful of filling in the middle and bring the edges together to completely cover the filling. The edges should overlap slightly to seal the masala. Gently flatten the filled ball. Dust with flour and roll out to a flat disc of about 5-6 inches.
7. Heat a tava (griddle). Roast the paratha on medium heat till done on both the sides. Grease the paratha with a little oil while cooking.

That’s it hot and delicious parathas are ready. Serve with pickle and any raita of your choice.

Linking this to Priya’s CWS – Peas and to LGSS - Stuffed Parathas hosted by Vardhini started by Vatsala
Also linking it to Nayna's Event Let's Cook for Christmas Red and Green.

Aloo Channa Chaat

2011-12-20T02:24:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to our friend PJ who is expecting her second baby. As soon as we came to know about it, all of the blogging marathon friends were quite excited. We all wanted to do something special for her and hence the idea of a virtual baby shower was conceived. So here’s wishing PJ a very happy, healthy and safe delivery.

PJ has a wonderful space with lots and lots of recipes. I tried out this yummy Aloo Channa Chaat from her space and it was loved by one and all at home. Though Chaats are my favorite and I can never resist from having them when I pass by my favorite Chaat Joints, I have never ventured into making them at home. Somehow I always thought these, if made at home would never taste like the ones we get outside. But I was proven wrong, this one tasted awesome and with the leftover chutneys I am planning to try out a few more chaat recipes.

Makes 4 servings

What you’ll need

1. Channa – 1 Cup
2. Boiled Potato – 2 to 3
3. Chaat Masala – ¼ tsp
4. Chilli Powder - ¼ tsp
5. Green Chutney *
6. Sweet Chutney*
7. Onion – 1 small, finely chopped
8. Coriander Leaves – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
9. Sev – 1 tbsp
10. Juice of ½ a lemon
11. Salt to taste

For the Green Chutney

1. Coriander Leaves – 1 small bunch
2. Mint Leaves – 1 small bunch
3. Green Chillies – 3 to 4 (adjust according to taste)
4. Ginger – 1 inch piece
5. Juice of ½ Lemon
6. Salt to taste

Method for Green Chutney

1. Wash the coriander and mint leaves. Slit the green chillies. Wash peel and roughly chop ginger.
2. Now grind the above ingredients into a smooth paste adding a little water as and when required. Do not add too much water as the consistency of the chutney is generally thick. Transfer into a container.
3. Now add the lemon juice and salt to taste, mix well.
4. That’s it, green chutney is ready. This stays well for a week to 10 days when refrigerated.

For the Sweet Chutney

1. Dates – 10, pitted
2. Tamarind – a small lemon sized ball
3. Jaggery – as much as the tamarind
4. Chilli powder – ½ tsp
5. Roasted Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
6. Salt a pinch

Method for the Sweet Chutney

1. Pressure cook the dates and tamarind in separate containers.
2. Once cooked, remove and allow to cool. Then grind both the cooked dates and tamarind into a smooth paste.
3. Now heat a kadai, add the dates and tamarind mixture, then add jaggery and bring to boil.
4. Now add the chilli powder, jeera powder and salt and bring to boil again.
5. Remove from heat, when chutney becomes slightly thick and saucy.
6. Sweet chutney is ready. This also stays good for about 10 days when refrigerated.

Now to assemble the Aloo Chaat

1. Soak channa overnight, and pressure cook it for 3 whistles or until soft.
2. Cube the boiled potatoes and set aside.
3. Now, in a bowl, add the chaana, boiled and cubed potatoes, lemon juice, salt, chaat masala powder, chilli powder, sweet chutney and green chutney and mix well.
4. Now add the chopped onions, and garnish with coriander leaves topped with sev.

That’s it yummy and healthy chaat is ready at home.

Note:

1. Adjust the amount of chutneys according to taste.
2. You could also add, papdi, and roasted peanuts for an added crunch.

Check out the others participating in the virtual baby shower

Aarthi http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com
Cool Lassi(e) http://pangravykadaicurry.blogspot.com
Gayathri Kumar http://gayathriscookspot.blogspot.com
Kalyani http://itsnotmadrasi.blogspot.com
Kaveri http://palakkadcooking.blogspot.com
Mireille Roc http://gourmetglobal.blogspot.com
Pavani http://cooks-hideout.blogspot.com
Pradnya http://pumpkinfarmfood.blogspot.com
Priya Srinivasan http://enveetukitchen.blogspot.com
Priya Suresh http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com
Srivalli http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.com
Suma http://veggieplatter.blogspot.com
Sushma http://sushmapinjala.blogspot.com
Vardhini http://vardhiniskitchen.blogspot.com
Veena http://veenasvegnation.blogspot.com
Vaishali http://ribbonstopastas.blogspot.com

Herbs and Flower - Spring Onions : Roundup

2011-12-19T02:07:00.000-08:00

Here comes the roundup of the event Herbs and Flowers – Spring Onions. I thank PJ for letting me host this wonderful event and I also thank everyone for participating in this event and making my maiden event a success. I was amazed at the different ways in which the spring onions were put to use. I received a total of 23 entries varying from soups, starters to chutneys. Let’s get to the roundup. The entries are listed in the order in which I received them.

Nayna of Simply Food sends us Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

Priya Mahadevan of Now Serving sends us Spring Onion Subzi

Akeela of Torwviewtornto sends us Eggplant Casserole

Vidhya of Sugar N Spice sends us these yummy Scallion n Garlic Pancakes

Chandrani of Cuisine Delights sends us Soya Manchurian with Spring Onions

and Spring Onion Paratha

Malathi Savitha of My India Recipes sends us Spring Onion Upma

and Tomato Spring Onion Sabzi

Pranthi of Delicious Recipes 4m Pranathi's Kitchen sends us Tofu with Spring Onion Stir Fry

Julie of Erivum Puliyum sends us this yummy Spring Onion Dal

Pradnya of The Pumpkin Farm sends us these yummy Vegetable Hakka Fried Rice

and Malaysian Fried Noodles

Amy of Food Corner sends us three entries. Yummy SriLankan Vegetable Rotis

Creamy Spring Onion Soup

and Sri Lankan Style Spring Onion Fry

Uma of My Kitchen Experiments sends us this wonderful Spring Onion Soup

Swetha of Our Cherished World sends us Spring Onion Tofu Curry

Sangee of Spicy Treats sends us this yummy Spring Onion Carrot Paratha

and an interesting and innovative Spring Onion Chutney

Ganga Sreekanth of My Favorite Foods sends us Chilly Gobi

Anusha of Tomato Blues sends us Spring Onion Dal

Pushpa of Taste as You Cook sends us Spring Onion Fry

Christy Gerald of My Kitchen Flavors - BonAppetit! sends us this simple yet tasty Capsicum Spring Onion Masala

And finally from my kitchen Palakkad Chamayal comes Gobi Manchurian

Hope you enjoyed the roundup! I once again thank all my friends who have made this event a success.

Lemon Rice

2011-12-14T01:49:00.000-08:00

Lemon rice, Coconut rice, tomato rice are few of the rice varieties which find their way into my daughter’s lunch box almost on weekly basis. Whenever, I make it for her lunch, I make sure to prepare a little extra so that the others at home can also have a little of it with their lunch, since these items are an eternal favorite in our home.

Even though these recipes are always a hit at home, I never even thought of publishing them in my blog, as I thought these to be too simple. Then one day, a friend of my mine was saying that her lil one does not seem to enjoy plain rice with dal and she wanted to try something different for her. And she casually asked me how to make lemon rice. That’s when I realized that, though this is a simple recipe, it’s not necessary that everybody has to know it. So I decided I should soon post a few of these simple day to day recipes which would also definitely come in handy for bachelors.

So, for this week’s blog hop I was paired with Pinky and my immediate choice was this simple rice. You can find the original recipe here.

Lemon rice is a tangy rice variety that can prepared in a jiffy if you have cooked rice at hand. It’s great for travel. Thinking of lemon rice brings back memories of the train journeys from Jabalpur, the place we lived to Chennai (where my grandparents lived). My mother would definitely pack Lemon rice with some vadams, in one big box (Sambadam) and Curd rice in another one. I and my brother used to have so much fun during that 28 hour journey. Can’t imagine doing the same now, though!

Anyways, here is the recipe:

What you’ll need

1. Raw Rice – 1 cup
2. Lemon – 1
3. Salt to taste

For Tempering

1. Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
2. Split Urad Dal – 1 tsp
3. Bengal Gram Dal – 1 tsp
4. Groundnuts – a fistful
5. Green Chillies – 1, finely chopped
6. Asafetida – a pinch
7. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
8. Curry Leaves – 2 sprigs
9. Oil – 3- 4 tsp

Method

1. Wash the rice well and drain it. Cook the rice with 2 cups of water. The rice should be well cooked but not mushy. So adjust water accordingly.
2. Once the rice is cooked, transfer it into a big wide plate and fluff up the rice so as to separate the grains. Allow to cool completely.
3. In a small frying pan, heat oil, add the mustard seeds, once they splutter, add the groundnuts next add the Bengal gram dal and urad dal, fry on medium heat till the dals change color, next add in the chopped green chillies.
4. Lower the heat and add the turmeric powder and asafetida. Finally add the torn curry leaves and remove from heat.
5. Pour this over the cooked rice, add salt to taste and mix well with a spatula.
6. Finally add the juice of 1 lemon and mix well.

That’s it yummy lemon rice is ready, serve with some applams or chips.

Linking this to Blog Hop Wednesdays started by Radhika.

Matar Paneer

2011-12-12T01:54:00.000-08:00

I and my daughter simply love paneer. This might be the nth time I am saying this, but that is the fact. So any dish where paneer is one of the ingredient gets an immediate nod from my lil one. Off late, my daughter has started accompanying me to the super market. As soon as we enter the store, she is on her own, with a small basket in her hand. By the time I finish my shopping, she would’ve finished hers too and a couple of sure shot things that would be in her basket are chocolates and paneer! There would be many other things, which of course I have to diplomatically discard. Such is my daughter’s love for Paneer. Let’s get to today’s recipe, an all time classic and a favorite of many: - Matar Paneer.

What you’ll need

1. Fresh/Frozen Green Peas – 1 Cup

2. Cottage Cheese/Paneer – 150 gms

3. Onion – 2 Medium

4. Tomatoes – 3 Medium

5. Garlic – 2 to 3 cloves

6. Ginger – a small piece

7. Cashew Nuts – 4 or 5

8. Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp

9. Coriander Powder – 1 tsp

10. Chilli Powder – 1 tsp (Adjust according to taste)

11. Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp

12. Cumin Seeds / Jeera – ½ tsp

13. Milk – ½ cup

14. Kasoori Methi – 1 tsp

15. Fresh Coriander Leaves – for garnishing

16. Oil – 2 tbsp

Method

1. Peel and roughly chop onions. Grind onions, ginger, garlic and cashew nuts into a smooth paste.

2. Also grind the tomatoes into a smooth paste.

3. Cut the paneer into cubes and soak them in salted lukewarm water until the time of use.

4. Cook the green peas in water and keep aside.

5. Heat a Kadai with oil, add cumin seeds.

6. Once the cumin seeds change color, add the ground paste of onions, ginger, garlic and cashewnuts. Saute for a few minutes or till the raw smell of the onions disappears, say about 6 to 8 minutes on medium heat.

7. Now add in the spice powders – turmeric powder, coriander powder and chilli powder. Saute for about 2 minutes.

8. Next add in the tomato paste and fry till all the moisture disappears and the oil starts separating.

9. Now add in the paneer, green peas about 1 cup of water and salt to taste. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes. Adjust the amount of water depending on the consistency.

10. Next sprinkle the garam masala, Kasoori Methi and add the milk. Stir well and simmer for another 2 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Yummy Matar Paneer is ready. Serve hot with rotis or parathas.

Linking this to the Winter Carnival at Tickling Palates, CWS– Green Peas hosted by Priya and Kalyani’s HLI – Green Peas hosted by Veena.

Nei Appam

2011-12-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends!

Last year on this day, I sat down and gingerly wrote my first post! And today after a year I am writing my 120^th post. The journey thus far has been wonderful with lots of new friends, searching for new recipes, experimenting with them, capturing them and so on. I am overwhelmed with the support my readers have extended towards me and my blog. So at this juncture I would like to thank all my readers and fellow bloggers who have visited my space regularly leaving their valuable feedback.

Any milestone achieved calls for a celebration right! So today, I am sharing the recipe of the very famous Neiappams. Neiappams are a part of the Palakkad Iyer Cusine, be it a festival, marriage, or religious function. What the Palakkad Iyer’s call Neiappam is known as Unniappam in Kerala.

The only difference I know of between Neiappam and Unniappams are that the latter are made by pouring small ladle full of batter into a special pan, called the appa karal whereas the former is made by pouring a ladle of batter directly into oil/ghee. The end result being that Neiappams are slightly bigger and flatter at the underside whereas unniappams are much smaller.

Karthigai is approaching and Neiappams are a part of the offerings made on this day. So celebrate this Karthigai with these yummy appams.

What you’ll need

1. Raw Rice – 1 cup

2. Powdered Jaggery – 1 cup

3. Banana – 1 small. ripe

4. Coconut – ¼ cup, cut into small pieces (optional)

5. Green Cardamom/Elaichi – 4 to 5

6. Oil/ghee for frying

Method

Wash and soak the rice in water for 2 hours. Strain the water completely. Grind the rice without adding any water into a very fine powder. Now slowly add the powdered jaggery and keep grinding adding very little water. Also add the chopped banana and grind to a smooth paste. Transfer into a bowl.

Add the cardamom, and coconut pieces. Mix well. The batter should be of pouring consistency, not too tight or too runny. Add water if necessary.

Heat a paniyaaram pan, fill ½ of each groove with a mixture of oil and ghee. Let the oil get heated.

Now pour small ladleful of batter into each of grooves, flip over after a minute. Let this cook on medium heat till a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Insert the skewer into each of the appams and transfer them onto a paper towel.

Yummy nei appams are ready.

Linking this to Kavi's event Jingle All the Way.

Mixed Vegetable Soup

2011-12-05T02:15:00.000-08:00

Soups are something which I have been saying, are not exactly my cup of tea. But now that winter is here, my daughter who is a soup lover is always asking me to prepare a warm bowl of soup for her. So I end up with a bowl for myself too. I have kind of started enjoying it as well. I always prefer to make the soup from scratch rather than using the ready to use powders. The fresh veggies always make a big difference not only from the nutritional point but also taste wise. Soups are a healthy and nutritious way to satiate your hunger pangs. A big bowl of vegetable soup is a fulfilling meal in itself. So here is the recipe for a yummy, warm and comforting bowl of goodness.

What you’ll need

1. Carrot – 1, finely chopped

2. Beans – 4 – 5, finely chopped

3. Fresh or frozen green peas – a handful

4. Sweet Corn Nibbles – a handful

5. Capsicum – 1/2, finely chopped

6. Cornflour – 1 tbsp

7. Milk – ½ cup

8. Butter/oil – 1 tsp

9. Pepper Powder – as required

10. Salt – to taste

Method

1. In a vessel add all the chopped veggies except capsicum and cook them in enough water until done.

2. Dissolve cornflour in ¼ cup of water and keep aside.

3. Heat a pan with the butter/oil, add the chopped capsicum and sauté for few minutes on medium flame.

4. Now add in the veggies and the stock, add the seasonings and allow to simmer.

5. Next add in the cornflour and stir well. Allow to simmer till the soup thicken slightly.

6. Finally add in the milk, stir well and remove from heat.

Serve it hot.

Linking it to the Winter Carnival hosted by Radhika and CWS - Green Peas hosted by Priya.

Cabbage Paratha

2011-11-30T01:11:00.000-08:00

Parathas, stuffed or otherwise have always been my favorite. They are the easiest way of sneaking in vegetables into our kids meals. I often find myself preparing these kinds of veggie infused parathas for my daughter’s lunch box. She does not require any side dish for this and usually has it with some ketchup. So while I was browsing through Sangee’s space, Spicy Treats, known for her innovative recipes, for this week’s blog hop, I found the recipe for these yummy Cabbage Parathas. I usually grind the cabbage, while making these, but this time I followed Sangee’s method and all of us enjoyed the slight crunch of the shredded cabbage and onions in between the bites. You can find the original recipe here.

Makes 8 to 10 parathas

What you’ll need

1. Wheat Flour – 2 cups + more for dusting
2. Finely Shredded Cabbage – ½ cup
3. Onion – 1 small, finely chopped
4. Coriander Leaves – a small bunch
5. Green Chilly – 1
6. Ginger – a small piece
7. Carom seeds/Ajwain – ½ tsp
8. Salt to taste
9. Oil – 1 tbsp
10. Water for kneading

Method

1. Grind together coriander leaves, green chilly and ginger into a fine paste without adding any water.
2. In a wide bowl, Add wheat flour, carom seeds, salt and oil. Mix it well with your hands, so that the oil gets merged well in the flour.
3. Now add the Coriander chilly paste, shredded cabbage and onion. Mix well.
4. Now add water little by little and knead into stiff dough. Rest the dough for about 10 minutes.
5. Pinch out a lemon sized ball of dough, roll it on some dry flour, flatten and roll out into chapattis, dusting on dry flour as and when required.
6. Heat a tava, place the prepared chapatti on the hot tava and cook on medium flame. Apply a tsp of oil, flip it over and add another tsp of oil and spread it. Cook till brown spots appear.
Enjoy these hot parathas with a raita or curry of your choice.

Note:

Do not add too much water while kneading, since the cabbage and onions will give out water and loosen the dough upon resting.

Linking this to Blog Hop Wednesday and to Healthy Lunch Ideas hosted by Kavi

Carrot Halwa | Gajar Ka Halwa

2011-11-29T02:36:00.000-08:00

Here we are on the last day of the blogging marathon. I have been blogging under the theme “Winter Specials”. It was another fun experience. Thought of finishing off the marathon with a sweet note. So here is a classic winter special recipe: Gajar Ka Halwa.
This is a dish which my mom used to make every winter, especially when the Delhi Carrots start arriving in the markets. I too am following her footsteps and make this dish almost 3 to 4 times during these winter months. There are many variations to this simple recipe. Some people use the pressure cooker to cook the carrots, some make use of condensed milk for sweetening and a few others add khoya/khoa to give that extra richness. Here is my way of making this classic Indian dessert:

Makes 5 to 6 servings

What you’ll need

1. Grated Carrots – 5 Cups
2. Milk – 3 Cups
3. Sugar – 1 Cup to 1 ¼ cup
4. Cardamom – 4 to 5 crushed and powdered
5. Cashew Nuts – 6 to 7 broken
6. Raisins – 10 to 12
7. Ghee/Clarified Butter – 3 to 4 tbsp

Method

1. Heat a Kadai with 2 tbsp of ghee.
2. Add the grated carrots and sauté for a few minutes, on medium flame.
3. Now add the milk and allow to cook on medium flame, stirring once in a while till all the milk evaporates.
4. Keep stirring continuously once the milk has almost reduced else the carrots may stick to the bottom and burn.
5. Now add sugar and mix well. The carrot milk mixture will become liquid again.
6. Keep stirring continuously till the mixture starts thickening, add another tbsp of ghee and mix well.
7. Once the mixture is dry and starts leaving the sides, remove from flame.
8. Heat a small frying pan with a tbsp of ghee, fry cashews and raisins and add to the halwa.

That’s it tasty and yummy Gajar Ka Halwa is ready.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#10

Linking this to the Winter Carnival happening at Tickling Palates.

Gobi Manchurian

2011-11-27T22:19:00.000-08:00

Here is yet another family favorite. This is one dish that I would’ve decided to order in the restaurant, even before leaving home. But when it comes to making this at home, I make it only once in a year, and that would be sometime during the winter months, when fresh white and dense gobis are available.

There is a small incident which comes to my mind whenever I make or have Manchurian. It was the time we were living in Bangalore, and had just moved to a new apartment. My SIL and her daughter who was just 10 months old had come over and since we had just shifted, the house was a big mess and the kitchen totally unsettled. So we decided to have lunch outside and as was the norm I ordered for Gobi Manchurian. My niece started getting restless; she wanted everything in her hands, from the glasses to the plates and spoons. Just to pacify her, my SIL gave her a small piece from the Manchurian, cos that was the only item that had arrived. The moment she finishes that piece, she asked for one more and then one more and ate almost 5 to 6 pieces of the 10 or 12 pieces. We were all so surprised as it was quite spicy and we had to literally stop her from eating.

This same girl when she was about 2 and ½ years old, came home one day and asked what’s cooking for breakfast. I said idly. So she said ok, I will have some then I asked if she would like to have some sugar or chutney with it. I was stunned by her answer, she asked if she could have either Aavakkaya or Molagapodi!! Now she is 8 years old and her taste buds have not changed one bit!

Now let me get to the recipe:

What you’ll need

1. Cauliflower/Gobi – 1 Medium
2. Oil for deep frying

For the batter:

1. Maida/All Purpose Flour – 4 tbsp
2. Cornflour – 4 tbsp
3. Rice flour – 2 tbsp
4. Pepper Powder – 1 tsp
5. Salt to taste

For the sauce

1. Garlic – 1 or 2 cloves
2. Ginger – 1 small piece
3. Green Chilly – 1 finely chopped
4. Spring onions – 4 to 5 heads
5. Capsicum – 1 small (optional)
6. Tomato Sauce – 1 tbsp
7. Soya Sauce – 2 tsps
8. Chilli Sauce – 1 tsp
9. Cornflour – 1 tbsp
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil – 1 tbsp

Method

1. Separate the cauliflower into bite sized florets.
2. Put them in salted boiling water for about 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside.

For the Manchurian

1. In a wide bowl, add the Maida, Cornflour, and rice flour and mix well.
2. Add salt and pepper powder and mix well.
3. Now add water and make into a batter of dropping consistency.
4. Heat oil for deep frying.
5. Drop the cauliflower florets into the batter and spoon them into the hot oil one by one. You can fry about 5 to 6 in a batch.
6. Cook on medium flame, till the outer batter is cooked and turns crispy. Drain on to a tissue and keep aside.

For the sauce:

1. Heat a Kadai with oil, add the green chillies, ginger and garlic and fry for a minute. Next add the spring onion whites and sauté.
2. Next add the chopped capsicum and fry for about 2 to 3 minutes on medium flame.
3. Now add the tomato sauce, soya sauce, chilli sauce and salt sauté well.
4. Dissolve the cornflour in ½ a cup of water and add it. Stir well, till you get a semi solid, shiny consistency.
5. Now add the fried cauliflower florets and mix well.
6. Finally garnish with the spring onion greens.

Yummy Gobi Manchurian is ready!

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#10

Linking this to PJ’s Event Herbs and Flowers – Spring Onions hosted by me.

Also to Winter Carnival happening at Tickling Palates.

And to Flavors of China hosted by Kalyani started by Nayna.

Mooli Paratha

2011-11-26T22:48:00.000-08:00

Mooli parathas are another of my favorite ones, after paneer and moong dal. Though moolis or radishes are available throughout the year in most places, but in winters you see loads and loads of fresh, white and tender moolis. The most common use of mooli in my household is in Sambar, hubby’s favorite. While I’m writing this post, mullangi sambar is simmering on the stove top . The other popular dish is mooli paratha. My daughter loves it and asks me to make for her lunch box whenever she sees that I have purchased mooli.

So today’s recipe is going to be my daughter’s mooli paratha:

Makes about 16 medium sized parathas

What you’ll need

For the stuffing

1. Radish/Mooli/Mullangi – 5 Medium sized
2. Green Chillies – 1 or 2 finely chopped
3. Chilly Powder – ½ tsp
4. Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
5. Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
6. Fresh Coriander Leaves – ½ bunch, finely chopped
7. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
8. Salt to taste
9. Cumin seeds
10. Oil – 2 tsps

For the dough

1. Wheat flour – 4 cups
2. Oil – 1 tbsp
3. Salt to taste
4. Water as required

Method

1. Make the dough as for rotis- make sure that the dough is not too hard nor sticky. It should be very pliable.

For the stuffing

2. Wash, peel and grate mooli in a fine grater. Squeeze out all the excess water from it and keep aside.
3. Heat a kadai with oil, add cumin seeds, once they change color, add finely chopped green chillies and fry.
4. Next add the squeezed mooli, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilly powder and garam masala powder and salt to taste. Mix well. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring at regular intervals, till you feel there is absolutely no moisture.
5. Finally add the coriander leaves and mix well. Transfer into a bowl and allow to cool completely.

For making the parathas

1. For making the parathas, pinch out a lemon sized ball from the dough, roll out into a small disc. Place a spoonful of filling in the middle and bring the edges together to completely cover the filling. The edges should overlap slightly to seal the masala. Gently flatten the filled ball. Dust with flour and roll out to a flat disc of about 5-6 inches.
2. Heat a tava (griddle). Roast the paratha on medium heat till done on both the sides. Grease the paratha with a little oil while cooking.

Yummy mooli parathas are ready. Serve with raita and pickle of your choice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#10

Also linking to Winter Carnival happening at Tickling Palates.

Methi Malai Matar (Without Malai)

2011-11-25T23:04:00.000-08:00

With the onset of winter, markets are flooding with my favorite greens, Methi leaves or Fenugreek. I simply love the flavor and aroma that it imparts. These can be used to make theplas, pooris, curries etc.

Methi malai matar, is a rich, creamy and yummy accompaniment to rotis, parathas or naans. Tried this recipe for the first time during my college days in a restaurant and I was bowled over by its taste and especially the flavorful aroma. Since then I used to order it almost everytime I visited a restaurant. Then after marriage, I once saw this packet, with the label Methi Malai Matar and it immediately caught my attention. On going through the instructions at the back, came to know that this yummy curry could be made easily at home, by just adding chopped fenugreek and boiled fresh green peas to the contents of the packet. So immediately bought and made it the same day. But alas! the taste wasn’t anywhere near what I expected. So there went my attempt to have my favorite curry at home 

A few days later, I saw the recipe on a cookery show in T.V noted it down and made it with a few changes. The curry turned out to be a super hit. Since this curry is loaded with the richness of cream, I wanted to make it in such a way that it is tasty yet a little lower in calories and came upon this particular recipe which does not use cream at all. So here comes the recipe:

Serves: 4

What you’ll need

1. Fenugreek leaves – 3 to 4 cups
2. Fresh or Frozen Green Peas – 1 Cup
3. Onion – 3 Medium, finely chopped
4. Green Chilly – 1 or 2 slit
5. Garlic – 1 clove, finely chopped
6. Ginger – a small piece, grated
7. Cashew nuts – a fistful, (about 20 whole)
8. Milk – 2 cups
9. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
10. Oil – 1 tbsp
11. Butter – 1 tsp
12. Coriander powder – 1 tsp
13. Pepper Powder – ½ tsp
14. Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
15. Sugar a pinch
16. Salt to taste

Method

1. Soak the cashew nuts in hot water for about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from water, pulse it for a minute so that the cashew nuts are powdered well. Now add about ¼th cup of milk and grind it into a smooth paste.
2. Boil the green peas in water and keep aside.
3. Wash the methi leaves well, and roughly chop it.
4. Heat a Kadai with oil and butter, add cumin seeds.
5. Now add chopped onions, fry till translucent. Next add in the finely chopped garlic, grated ginger and slit green chillies. Saute till the raw flavor disappears or till the onions start browning.
6. Now add the chopped fenugreek leaves and sauté till the leaves wilt, for about 3 to 4 minutes.
7. Next add the boiled peas, pepper powder, coriander powder and sauté for about 30 secs.
8. Pour in the ground cashew paste and stir well. Add salt to taste. Also add the remaining milk, sugar and garam masala. Let this simmer for a few minutes. Keep stirring once in a while else the gravy may burn.
9. Adjust consistency by adding little water or milk if required.

That’s it creamy and yummy curry is ready. Serve it with some hot rotis or parathas.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#10

Also linking this to Winter Carnival at Tickling Palates and Only Curries hosted by Kamalika.

Tomato Lemon Rasam

2011-11-24T21:56:00.000-08:00

Today’s recipe, Rasam is a popular south Indian dish. It is a must during any feast and is generally served as the second course with rice. Most of my North Indian friends, I have seen love to drink this in a glass or bowl like a soup. There are many different kinds of rasam the popular ones being Tomato Rasam, Lemon Rasam, Pepper Rasam, Jeera Rasam etc. So, whether you decide to drink a warm glass of this appetizing soup or have it with rice and spicy potato fry with sutta applam the choice is yours, it is just perfect for the wintery months.

I was always very apprehensive about posting a recipe for Rasam. It is indeed quite simple to make but I thought it would definitely benefit people like me. If rasam was being made, I would generally escape from the kitchen giving some reason or the other. The reason being, though it is very easy to make, still it needs to be made perfectly with the perfect blend of its main ingredients tamarind and other spices. Initially when I used to prepare rasam, it would become either too sour, or it would be very watery or spicy something or the other would go wrong. Now, with lot of trials, I have kind of mastered it.

Before my marriage rasam to me, would mean only say two kinds, tomato rasam and Jeera Rasam. It was only after I got married and saw my MIL make a different one each day, that I realized Rasam could be made in so many different forms each one having its own unique trademark taste. Today’s recipe is one such, which I learnt from her, that she in turn learnt from her MIL. Whenever my MIL prepares this rasam she would always think of her MIL and say that this was her signature dish, now I feel this is my MIL’s signature dish. My younger one simply loves this and she enjoys having this as such in a glass and with everything like, idly, dosa and ofcourse rice!

What you’ll need

1. Cooked and Mashed Toor dal – 1 tsp

2. Tomatoes – 3 Medium sized, ripe ones

3. Green chilly – 1 slit

4. Ginger – a small piece, crushed

5. Tamarind – marble sized ball

6. Chilly powder – ½ tsp

7. Turmeric Powder – a pinch

8. Hing – a pinch

9. Juice of half a lemon

10. Fresh coriander leaves – few sprigs

11. Curry Leaves - few

For tempering

1. Ghee/clarified butter – 1 tsp

2. Mustard Seeds - ½ tsp

3. Jeera/ Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Method

1. In a bowl, add roughly chopped tomatoes, slit green chilly, crushed ginger and tamarind. Add enough water.

2. Let this boil till the tomatoes are soft say about 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and let it cool completely.

4. Now mash and squeeze the tomato tamarind mixture and remove the peel, green chilly and the tamarind residue.

5. Pour this liquor in another vessel, add turmeric powder, chilly powder, hing and salt to taste. Add a few torn curry leaves. Allow to boil for few minutes say about 5 to 6 minutes. Always boil rasam on medium flame else it will bubble up and overflow.

6. Now, mix the mashed dal with about 1 to 1 ½ cups of water and add it to the boiling rasam. After adding this, rasam should not boil, so keep the flame on low heat and switch off once it starts foaming up. (Adjust water according to sourness of rasam, add more if required) Garnish with coriander leaves.

7. Heat a small frying pan with ghee, season with mustard and jeera and pour it over the rasam.

8. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Rest the rasam at least for 5 minutes so that the flavours are well blended.

Enjoy this heartwarming and comforting rasam as it is or with rice and papad.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#10

Linking this to the Winter carnival happening at Tickling Palates.

Til Ke Laddoo/Ellu Urundai

2011-11-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

Having lived in Chennai for most of my life, I never knew what winter was like. Then one fine day, my father got transferred to a place called Ghaziabad near Delhi. I and my brother were very excited to be going to some city in the Northern part of India. We lived there for around 3 years and it was during this time that I actually came to know how it feels in winters.

I used to always envy my cousins living in Delhi for their winter uniforms: Smart woollen skirts or tunics with belt and tie, Sweaters and the best part blazers. So finally, I got to wear the the blazer. We used to leave home by about 6: 45 am and at that time, it would be quite dark outside, freezing and so much of mist and fog. On certain mornings we just did not feel like getting out of the warmth of our cosy razai. But still I love it rather than the sweltering heat. By around 5 pm it would start getting dark, the days were too short and nights very long. I long for those wintry nights.

Come winter, and you could see loads and loads of the freshes vegetables like the Red Carrots, Raddishes, Turnips, Cauliflowers, Green Peas, Methi Leaves, Spinach etc. It was a norm in most houses to cook with these seasonal veggies. Dishes like Mooli Ka Paratha, Gobhi Ka Paratha, Gajar Ka Halwar, Makki ki Roti/ Sarson Ka Saag (recipes will follow) are few of the most common recipes that were dished out. My mom learnt a lot of recipes there, which we still continue to make.

Basically, winters are times when one loves to relax, laze around, enjoy a hearty meal and have a good night’s sleep. So this is exactly what I and my brother did when we lived Ghaziabad.

Til ka Laddoo is a popular sweet in North India, generally made during winters especially for Sankranthi. Til and jaggery are said to keep the body warm from within. During winters, the markets in North India are flooded with different varieties of sweets made out of til like Gajak, revadi, etc. These healthy laddoos can be enjoyed as a dessert or as a healthy snack. So here is a simple recipe to keep you warm this winter:

What you’ll need

1. White Til/Sesame seeds/Ellu – 1 cup

2. Powdered Jaggery - ½ cup

3. Ghee – to grease

Method

1. Dry roast the sesame seeds till light brown in color.

2. Heat a kadai. Add the powdered jaggery and just enough water for the jaggery to dissolve, about ¼ to ½ cup.

3. Let the jaggery dissolve completely. Strain for impurities and pour it back into the kadai.

4. Let the jaggery boil on medium flame till soft ball consistency (Thakkali paagu) is reached.

5. To test the syrup consistency, add a drop of the syrup into a bowl of water. Now gather that drop in the water with your fingers and try to roll into a ball. If you can make the ball then the right consistency has been achieved else let it boil for some more time. Keep checking every 2 to 3 minutes.

6. Now add the roasted sesame seeds and mix well, until all the sesame seeds are coated with the jaggery syrup.

7. Remove the above mixture into another plate.

8. Now, grease your hands with a little ghee and start shaping them into balls.

That’s it, yummy and healthy laddoos are ready.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#10

Also linking it to the Winter Carnival at Tickling Palates.

Carrot Coriander Soup

2011-11-22T06:17:00.001-08:00

Before starting this post I want to congratulate Srivalli for the great success of this series: Blogging Marathon. The blogging marathon has reached its 10th edition and I am glad to be part of it once again. It has been quite a while since I took part, the last time was during BM: 5. Though I would love to be part of the marathon every month, but, since I am a full time mom of a really mischievous little girl, I have to restrict myself. I really enjoyed the last edition, and I am looking forward to a wonderful and exciting marathon this time too.

This time around I would be blogging under the theme winterspecials, very apt for the season right! So friends, watch out my space for somepiping hot, spicy and yummy winter specials.

Today’s recipe is an interesting combination of soup:carrots and coriander. Though I am not a soup person, but I do enjoy a few of themespecially during the winters. This recipe has been adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor’sCookbook. I have made a few changes to the original recipe to suit my needs. Itis quite a filling soup and can work for a light meal. Here comes the recipe:

Serves – 2 to 3

What you’ll need

1. Carrots – 7 to 8 medium sized

2. Fresh Coriander Leaves – 1 medium bunch

3. Bay Leaves – 1

4. Peppercorns – 8 to 10

5. White Pepper Powder – ½ tsp

6. Sugar – a pinch

7. Juice of half a lemon

8. Salt – to taste

Method

1. Peel, wash and roughly chop carrots. Clean washand finely chop coriander leaves. Keep the stems for further use.

2. Heat a pan, add the chopped carrots, bay leavesand peppercorns and the coriander stems. Also add enough water (about 3 cups ofwater) and bring to a boil.

3. Cook till carrots are completely cooked. Let itcool.

4. Remove the bay leaves and strain the carrots.Reserve stock. Puree the carrots with the coriander stem and pepper corns.

5. Pour the puree into a pan add enough stock,adjust according to required consistency and boil for a 3 to 5 minutes.

6. Season with salt and white pepper powder and apinch of sugar. Stir in the chopped coriander leaves. Finally add a dash oflemon juice.

Enjoy it hot with an accompaniment of your choice.

Note:

You can sauté a medium sized onion and few pods of garlic ina little butter or olive oil before adding the carrots.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#10

Linking this to the Winter Carnival at Radhika's space.

Spicy Vazhakkai Curry

2011-11-20T20:48:00.001-08:00

Raw bananas/plantains/vazhakkai/Kaccha Kela is a veryversatile veggie. It can be used to make anything ranging from an appetizer,snack, gravies, dry curries etc. We generally use this veggie in molagootal,mulagushyam , mezhukkuperatti, puli kutthi upperi, thoran, kalan, mor Kootanetc. But my favorite is this spicy currywhich I learnt recently. This goes very well with plain rice and rasam and alsowith curd rice. So let’s get to recipewithout further ado.

Serves: 4

What you’ll need

1. Raw Banana/Vazhakkai – 4 Medium

2. Turmeric Powder – a pinch

3. Salt to taste

Dry roast and grind

1. Bengal Gram Dal/ Channa Dal – 2 tsps

2. Urad Dal – 1 tsp

3. Coriander Seeds – 1 tsp

4. Red Chillies – 2 or 3

5. Black Peppercorns – 5 or 6

For Tempering

1. Coconut Oil/ Refined oil – 2 tbsp

2. Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

3. Curry Leaves – few

4. Hing – a pinch

Method

1. Wash, peel and chop the raw bananas into smallcubes. Keep them immersed in a mixture of water and buttermilk/ curd tillfurther use. Wash again before use.

2. Heat a kadai, dry roast channa dal, urad dal,coriander seeds, red chillies, and black pepper till good aroma comes out andthe dals have turned a nice golden brown. Cool and grind to a fine powder.

3. Heat the same Kadai, with oil. Temper withmustard seeds, curry leaves and a pinch of hing/asafetida.

4. Now add the chopped raw banana cubes, turmericpowder and salt to taste. Stir well. Sprinkle little water, cover and cook inlow heat till the vegetable is cooked. Keep stirring in between.

5. Once vegetable is cooked, remove lid and let itroast for about 5 to 6 minutes on medium flame.

6. Now add the spice powder and mix well. Remove fromflame after a minute or two.

That’s it! Hot and tasty vazhakkai curry is ready. Serve itwith some plain rice and rasam for a comforting and fulfilling meal.

Note:

If you have a steamer, you could steam cook the raw bananapieces until done.

You could also add a little bit of tamarind paste for aslightly tangy taste, but I prefer it without it.

Linking this to Veggie/Fruit of the month - raw bananas hosted by Archanaoriginally started by Priya

Also to Only Curries hosted by Kamalika started by Pari.

And to the Winter Carnival happening at Tickling Palates

And to the Kerala Kitchen hosted by Fajeeda.

My First Event Announcement

2011-11-16T02:01:00.001-08:00

Hi Friends!

I am really happy to announce that Palakkad Chamayal will beguest hosting its first ever event - Herbs and Flowers started by PJ. I wouldlike to thank PJ for giving me the opportunity to host this wonderful event.This month’s star ingredient is Spring Onion.

Spring onions, also known as scallions, green onions, saladonions, green shallots etc are milder than onions and can be cooked or eatenraw. Spring Onions have been used as an ingredient in various dishes forthousands of years by many cultures around the world. They are widely used insoups, salads, Chinese noodles, fried rice etc.

Spring onions are a very good source of vitamin C, chromiumand dietary fiber. They are also a good source of manganese, molybdenum,vitamin B6, and folate, potassium, phosphorous and copper. It is effective against colds, headaches, chills to thestomach, indigestion, and also for insomnia.

So friends, please extend your support to this wonderfulevent by cooking and posting a dish featuring spring onions.

Rules for the event

1. Cook and blog about a Vegan or Vegetarian dishwhich features Spring Onion. Thoughthis series is based on the culinary uses, you can also share the following-growing spring onion or tips on freezing or storing them ,non culinary usesthat have been tried and tested by you like cosmetic uses, home remedies,crafts etc. You can also write about some interesting facts on Spring onion.

2. Please add this announcement link, and link to PJ’sannouncement page to your post

3. Adding the logo to your post will help spread the word.

4. Send in as many entries as you wish. Archives entriesare also accepted but do make a link to the post with both the announcements.

5. The last date for the entries is December 15th2011.

6. Non bloggers are also welcome to participate

7. Drop a mail to – kaverivenkatesh@gmail.comwith these details

a. Your name and name of your blog

b. Recipe and URL:

c. Picture of your dish {Please re-size your images}

Looking forward to see all your wonderful entries.......

Cheesy Corn Pasta

2011-11-15T23:16:00.001-08:00

My daughter loves noodles and pasta. She would love to haveit every other day. But I am really not in favor of the instant noodles thatare available in the markets. But even then, I have to give in to my daughter’sdemands (read - tantrums) many a times.

Though pastas have been available in the Indian marketssince a very long time, I was introduced to this only very recently. But Inever ventured into making it at home. Then one day, my daughter had this Maggi’sinstant pasta and was addicted to it. That’s when I thought it’s high time forme to start experimenting with this ingredient. But the first few times I made,it was a failure, either the pasta would get overcooked or it would be onlyhalf cooked or sometimes the sauce would’nt be right. My daughter continued tolike the Maggi instant pasta. That’s when I saw this recipe in Priya’s space,with whom I have been paired for this week’s blog hop. I decided to try it outand believe me; my daughter loved it and has asked me to make it again verysoon. The pictures are terrible though, but you have to take my word on howdelicious it was. I will soon update these pictures with better ones, since Iwill definitely have to make it again many more times for my daughter. Pleasefind the original recipe here.

What you’ll need

1. Pasta (any variety) – 2 cups

2. Sweet corn nibbles – ½ cup or more (boiled)

For the sauce

1. Garlic – I clove

2. Butter – 2 tsp

3. All purpose flour/ Maida – 1 tbsp

4. Milk - 1 ½ cups

5. Cheese – 2 small cubes (I used Amul cheese)

6. Chilli Flakes – ½ tsp

7. Oregano – a big pinch

8. Pepper powder – ½ tsp

9. Salt to taste

Method

1. Cook the pasta as per the instruction on thepacket. Drain and refresh with cold water, drain again and keep aside. Add theboiled sweet corn nibbles to it.

For the sauce

1. Heat a non stick pan with butter, add crushedgarlic and sauté.

2. Next add maida and sauté for a few minutes ortill the raw smell disappears.

3. Now slowly add the milk while whisking continuously,so that no lumps are formed. Let this cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or till thesauce starts boiling.

4. Next add in one cube of grated cheese and mixwell. Now add the chilli flakes, oregano and pepper powder and salt to taste.Mix well.

5. Now add the cooked pasta and corn. Mix wellwithout breaking the pasta.

6. Finally, before serving add another cube ofgrated cheese.

That’s yummy and delicious pasta is ready to dig in.

See my daughter enjoying her yummy pasta!

Note: Adjust seasoning according to taste.

Linking this to Radhika’s Blog Hop.

Sprouted Moong Kadhi

2011-11-14T04:09:00.001-08:00

Kadhi is a popular North Indian gravy generally preparedusing chickpea flour and yogurt. It isserved with fried chickpea flour dumplings called pakodas. It is also verycommon in the western parts of India like Gujarat and Rajasthan. The Gujarthiand Rajasthani kadhi is slightly runny and is on the slightly sweeter side.

Kadhi chawal (rice) is one of the famous combinations. It issomething that is enjoyed in the comfort of homes and is generally notavailable in restaurants. Though few small eateries may serve.

My first taste of this simple comfort food was at my aunt’shouse, who lives in Gujarat. So obviously I got to taste the Gujarathi version.I simply loved it and ever since have had it at various other occasions. Ialways wanted to prepare it myself at home, but never got around making it.Then, with days flying by, and other things and newer recipes takingprecedence, kadhi faded out, but was there somewhere at the back of my mind.

The other day, when I was flipping through my favorite ChefSanjeev Kapoor’s cookbook, I found this recipe there and wanted to try it outimmediately. The result was a smooth, creamy and yummy gravy; nutritious too,due to the addition of moong sprouts rather than the pakodis. Now let’s checkout the recipe.

What you’ll need

1. Moong Sprouts – 1 cup

2. Besan/Chickpea flour – ¼ cup

3. Slightly sour curds – 1 cup

4. Ginger – 1 Inch piece

5. Green Chilly – 1 slit

6. Jaggery – 1 tblsp

7. Turmeric Powder – a pinch

8. Salt to taste

For Tempering

1. Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp

2. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp

3. Fenugreek Seeds – ½ tsp

4. Hing – a pinch

5. Dried Red chilly – 1 broken

6. Curry Leaves – few

Method

Cook the Moong sprouts in enough water for about 5 to 8minutes. Strain and keep aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together, besan with the curdsthouroghly without forming any lumps. To this add 2 cups of water and mix well. Add finely chopped ginger, slit green chilly and jaggery into this. Also add a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste. Mix well.

Heat a Kadai, and pour this mixutre into it and cook onmedium flame, stirring continuously, till mixture thickens.

Now add the cooked moong and cook for another 3 to 4minutes.

Heat oil in a small frying pan, add, mustard seeds, cuminseeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and hing. When seeds begin to change coloradd the broken red chilly. Add this to the kadhi.

Sever hot with white rice or roti.

Linking this to CWS - Moong Beans hosted by Priya.

Awards Time

Sobha of Good Food has passed on this award. Thank you Sobha, you make me feel honored.

'Liebster' means favourite or dearest in German. Rules for accepting the award :
- Thank the person who gave the award and link back to their blog.
- Copy and paste the award to your blog.
- Reveal the 5 blogs you have chosen to award and let them know by commenting on their blog.
- Hope they pass it forward by accepting and awarding it to bloggers they would like to honour.

I would like to pass it to few of my blogger friends:

Faseela - Good Food Ends with Good Talk
Suja - Kitchen Corner - Try it
Puspa - Taste as you Cook
Sangee Vijay - Spicy Treats
Vidhya - Sugar N Spice

Carrot Kheer / Carrot Payasam

2011-11-10T02:17:00.000-08:00

There was time when the word payasam meant Paal Payasam, NeiPayasam or Semiya Payasam. One would’ve never imagined preparing a payasam outof carrots, bottle gourd, apples etc. At such a time, there was this person (whois no more now) whom I look up to. She was my mother’s Athai (Aunt), who livedin Mumbai. She was an expert cook, who at the age of 70 had the passion tolearn and try out new things.

I remember a dinner she had hosted on behalf of mygrandfather, for a newly married couple. I was one of the lucky ones who got totaste all the goodies that she had prepared. The menu consisted of a soup,Masala Dosa with 3 varieties of Chutenys, Vada, Vegetable pulao and thisclassic Carrot Kheer.

That was the first time (I was about 15 yrs old) I tasted a payasamother than the 3 mentioned above. I really fell for it. I asked my mom toimmediately make note of the recipe and to this date we, me and my mom followthe same recipe.

What you’ll need

1. Milk – 2.5 cups

2. Carrots – 3

3. Sugar – ½ cup

4. Cashew nuts – 4 + few more

5. Raisins – few

6. Cardamom Powder – a pinch

7. Ghee – 1 tsp

Method

1. Soak about 4 whole cashew nuts in hot water.

2. Wash, peel and slice carrots into thin slices.Pressure cook these carrot slices with ½ cup of milk.

3. Once the pressure releases, grind the carrotswith the cashew nuts into a smooth paste. Keep aside.

4. Boil the milk in a heavy bottom vessel, keepstirring in between so that the milk does not overflow. Let the milk boil inlow flame for about 10 minutes or till it is reduced a little.

5. Now add the carrot paste to the milk and stirwell. Let this simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes. Keep stirring in between.

6. Now add the sugar and stir well. Simmer for another5 to 7 minutes.

7. Remove from heat.

8. In a small frying pan, heat ghee, fry thecashewnuts and raisins and add it to the payasam. Also add the cardamom powderand mix well.

Yummy carrot kheer is ready. Serve it hot or cold.

Linking this to the Winter Carnival happening at Tickling Palates.

Sprouted Moong and Corn Salad

2011-11-08T02:03:00.000-08:00

Salads and I are poles apart. I don’t know why I have thisaversion towards salads. I do eat them once in a while but I can never relishwhat I am eating. It is not something that I crave for. I really don’t know howsome people manage to live on just fruits and vegetables. One of my mom’s cousinlives on vegetable and fruit salads for 5 days of the week and only on theweekends she has any cooked food. Maybe that is the secret of her youthful skin.She must be above 55, but when my daughter met her for the first time shedecided to call her Akka. Can you beat that!

So now I am also trying to incorporate salads in my dietwhether I like it or not. I eat only fruits and vegetables for a day in a week.I have been doing it now for about 3 to 4 weeks and believe me it does feelgood. It has curbed my cravings for sweets and other refined bakery items alot. I hope I can continue this regime and make it a part of my lifestyle. Notthat I want to be called akka at 50, but it does leave me feeling very happy thatI could disciple my mind and tongue for at least a day.

So as part of those days, I prepare this salad, which I havegrown to like. It is quite a filling and refreshing salad. And here is how Imake it.

What you’ll need

1. Sprouted Green Moong – ½ cup

2. Boiled Sweet Corn kernels – ½ cup

3. Carrot grated – 1 small

4. Apple – ½ cut into small cubes

5. Cucumber – ½ peeled and cut into small cubes

6. Green Chillies – 1

7. Juice of ½ a lemon

8. Salt to taste

Method

In a large mixing bowl, add the sprouted moong, sweet corn,grated carrots, cubed apple, cubed cucumber and finely chopped chilly. Mixwell.

Now add the lemon juice and salt to taste. Give it a goodmix. Set aside for atleast 10 minutes before serving so that the flavors arewell absorbed.

That’s it healthy and delicious salad is ready.

Note:

1. Feel free to add other vegetables like tomatoes,onions, capsicum etc

2. Also you could add fruits like pear, or pomegranateor segmented sweet lime, oranges etc.

3. If you do not like to have raw sprouts, steamthem just for about 3 to 4 minutes and then use.
4. While making it for kids, avoid green chillies and use black pepper powder instead.

LLinking this salad to Priya's CWS - Moong Beans

Re posting two other recipes of mine for Priya's CWS - Moong Beans Event

Green Moong Sabzi with Dates

Green Moong and Mixed Veggie Pulao

Capsicum Zunka | A Tribute to a Fellow Blogger

2011-11-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

I am at a loss of words while writing this post. The news ofJayashree’s passing away left me in shock for almost one full day. Though I knewher only through her blog, but still there was some unknown bonding, which Ialways felt towards her; the reason could be the fact that both of us belongedto Palakkad. I pray to God, to give her family, especially her kids, the strengthto carry on. Jayashree will continue to live forever in our memories throughher lovely blog.

Jayashree’s space Experiments in Kailas Kitchen, has such awide variety of recipes. I spent quite some time browsing through her hugecollection of recipes. Finally I tried out this simple yet very tasty side dishthat can be had as an accompaniment with rotis.

Serves: 2

What you’ll need

1. Capsicum- 2 nos, big

2. Onion– 1 big

3. Besan/Kadalamavu- 2 tbsp

4. Oil- 2 tblspn

5. Cumin- 1 tspn

6. Turmeric- 1/4 tspn

7. Red chillipowder - 1/4 tspn

8. Salt totaste

Method

1. Washdeseed and dice capsicum.

2. Heata pan, dry roast the besan till a nice aroma comes out.

3. Heatthe same pan with oil, add cumin seeds and sauté. Next add the sliced onionsand sauté till the onions turn translucent.

4. Nextadd the diced capsicum and sauté.

5. Whenthe capsicum is almost done, add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Mixwell and sauté for a minute.

6. Nowadd the besan little by little and keep stirring so that it does not form anylumps.

7. Sprinklea just a handful of water and cook covered for about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir well.

That’s it yummy capsicum zunka is ready to be served withroti.

Pumpkin Apple Soup

2011-11-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

When I was going through the recipes on my blog, I was quitesurprised that I had not posted a single soup recipe so far. Though I am not alover of soups and salads, but still I like a few of them and keep making themquite often on the pretext of eating healthy; my favorite one being Pumpkinapple soup. Though I have my method of making this soup, I decided to try outNayna’s version for this week’s blog hop. It turned out very similar to what Iusually make, without the calories from the butter which I use for sautéing onions,so this one is all the more healthier. So here comes my first soup recipe.

Original Recipe here

Serves: 4

What you’ll need:

1. Pumpkin – 250 gms

2. Apple – 1

3. Bay Leaf – 1

4. Juice of half a lemon

5. Black pepper powder – ½ tsp

6. Salt to taste

7. Sugar a pinch

8. Fresh Coriander leaves

Method

1. Wash, peel and chop the pumpkin into cubes. Alsochop the apples.

2. Add enough water and cook the pumpkin and appleswith the bay leaf till soft. Allow to cool.

3. Remove the bay leaf and blend the cooked pumpkinand apples into a puree.

4. Add this puree to another vessel, season withsalt pepper and sugar. Adjust consistency by adding water or stock at thisstage. Allow to simmer for about 3 to 4 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and add the juice of lemon.Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Yummy soup is ready.

Note:

You can add a little milk instead of water or stock whileadjusting the consistency.

If you are not very calorie conscious feel free to saute a sliced onion in some butter and then add the pumpkin and apple pieces.

Linking this the Winter Carnival happening at Tickling Palates

Pumpkin Pachadi/Mathan Pachadi

2011-10-31T02:10:00.000-07:00

Time is just flying by. My younger daughter is growing up sofast. She’s already started talking. Her childish jabbering is so cute. I amalways in awe at how fast she grasps each word and repeats it. I just love theway she calls out to her elder sister Aiye! Akka! Chamtha Akka! (SamyuktaAkka), that’s 2 times and if she doesn’t listen, then it changes to AiyeChamta, Chamta!!

She is also becoming naughtier by the day. I sometimes wish that I had an extra pair ofeyes, hands and legs to take care of my lil one. One moment she is in thedining room, eating something and I think she’s busy eating, but I’m proventotally wrong, cos the moment I get up to run a small errand, she’s has run offtoo. I cut open the milk packet andempty it into the vessel. Then in a flash I see the vessel is gone. My daughteris running with the vessel, spilling milk all over. Ha ha! Even by mistake if Ileave the bathroom door open, within 2 minutes I can see her coming out wet allthrough. These are just a few of her antics. This post sure is not enough tolist down what all she does.

It is so much fun to see her grow, but definitely a fulltime job for one adult. I’m thoroughly enjoying this stint of motherhood.

Now let’s get to today’s recipe, Mathan pachadi. This saucypreparation is generally prepared as an accompaniment to Molagootal orMolagushiam. It is a typical Palakkad Iyer recipe and is one of my favorites.It is a simple dish where in pumpkins are cooked in tamarind and simmered in coconut- chili paste. Other vegetables likebrinjal, lady’s finger and Malabar Vellarikai can be used instead of pumpkin. Dotry this out, even if you don’t prepare molagootal or molagushyam, it tastesvery good with simple curd rice too.

What you’ll need

1. Pumpkin – 250 gms

2. Tamarind – gooseberry sized ball

3. Turmeric Powder – a pinch

4. Jaggery – 1 tsp

5. Salt to taste

To Grind

1. Scraped Coconut – ½ cup

2. Green Chillies – 1 or 2

3. Mustard Seeds – 1/8^th of tsp

For Seasoning

1. Oil – a tsp

2. Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

3. Methi /Fenugreek Seeds – ¼ tsp

4. Dried Red Chillies – 1 broken

5. Curry Leaves – few

Method

1. Soak tamarind in hot water. Squeeze, extracttamarind pulp. Add about a cup of water.

2. Peel and cut the pumpkin into square slices of ½inch thickness.

3. Add the pumpkin pieces, turmeric powder and saltto the tamarind extract. See to it that the pumpkin pieces are immersed in thetamarind else add little more water.

4. Let this boil, cover and cook till the pumpkinpieces are cooked.

5. In the meanwhile, grind coconut, green chilliesand mustard seeds into a smooth paste adding little water.

6. After the pumpkin pieces are cooked, add theground paste, jaggery and simmer. Check for salt.

7. Now, heat a small frying pan with oil, spluttermustard seeds and methi seeds. Then add the dried red chillies. Pour this overthe pachadi and garnish with curry leaves.

Tasty mathan pachadi is ready to be served with rice andmolagootal or molagutiam. Also tastes good with curd rice.

Linking this to Kerala Kitchen hosted by Khushi and tohealing food – Coconut by Sukanya.

Ukkarai - My 100th Post

2011-10-27T02:13:00.000-07:00

This is my 100th post! Can you believe that? I really can’t believe it. I still remember the day, I wrote my first post and waited eagerly for somebody to drop by and leave a comment, but then I was very naïve. I did not realize that for somebody to know that I and my space existed I had to visit others too. But as days went by I also learnt. Now I can boast of 100+ followers and a good readership. Let’s leave all the statistics aside.

During the past 10 months I have learnt quite a few things, from taking better pictures, (though I have to still improve a lot on it) to writing better posts, and also a few technical aspects. Another good thing is that I have successfully tried out quite a few recipes which I thought I would never do.I would like to thank all my readers and blogger friends who have supported me by visiting my space and leaving their valuable feedback.

Thought of posting a sweet for my 100th post! So here is Ukkarai or Okkarai. This is a simple sweet dish very popular during Diwali. Though it is supposed to be a common Palakkad Iyer recipe, my grandmother and mother never made this. It was only after my marriage that I got introduced to this dish. A healthy protein packed sweet dish, made out of Channa dal/Bengal gram dal and jaggery. So here is the recipe.

What you’ll need:
1. Kadalai Paruppu/Bengal Gram Dal – 1 cup
2. Powdered jaggery - 1 cup
3. Cardamom – 4 to 5
4. Cashewnuts and raisins – few
5. Ghee/ Clarified Butter – 1 tbsp

Method

1. Dry roast the Bengal gram dal in a Kadai, till the dal becomes light brown and a nice aroma starts emanating.
2. Soak this roasted dal in water for about ½ hour to 45 minutes.
3. Cook the dal with just enough water in a pressure cooker for about 2 whistles. Dal should be just cooked and not mushy.
4. After the pressure from the cooker is released, remove the cooked dal and put it in a strainer so that all the water is drained. Let it cool.
5. Powder the dal in a blender and keep it aside.
6. In the meanwhile, heat a Kadai and add the powdered jaggery with about 1/3 cup of water. Let the jaggery dissolve completely.
7. Strain for impurities.
8. Heat the jaggery water on medium flame till Kallupakkam is achieved.
9. To check for the pakam, keep a small bowl of water, add a drop of the jaggery syrup in the water, then gather it and roll it into a ball, now throw that into the bowl, you should hear a good sound.
10. Now add the powdered dal and stir well continuously for 5 to 7 minutes or till bread crumb like texture is obtained.
11. Finally, heat a small frying pan with ghee, fry the cashew nuts and raisins and add it to the ukkarai along with the ghee. Mix well.

That’s it, yummy ukkarai is ready.

Linking this recipe to MLLA - 40 hosted by Suma started by Susan.

Microwave Chivda

2011-10-23T03:09:00.000-07:00

Diwali – the festival of lights is here! Diwali in thesouthern states of India is celebrated to mark the killing of Narakasur by LordKrishna. Everybody must be having very fond memories attached to this particularfestival and so do I. As children, me and my brother used to wait for thisfestival of lights all through the year. Diwali for us meant new clothes, crackers,exchanging sweets and snacks with neighbors, visiting relatives, and how can Iforget lighting up our verandahs with small earthen lamps or Diyas.

On the day of Diwali, we used to be up by 4 in the morning,have an oil bath, wear new clothes and go out with my father to burst a fewcrackers. Whether we had breakfast on other days or not, on the Diwali, it wasa must. We would be served with soft idlis, chutney and the sweets and snacks.Then we would sit down and watch the programmes on T.V, especially the PattiMandram. Then have a fulfilling lunch with Vadai and Payasam. Next it was timefor a good nap. Finally wake up to wear another set of new clothes, help ammawith lighting the lamps and then again go down to burst crackers. (though notmuch, I was never a cracker person).

Times have changed now, though we still celebrate Diwalipretty much the same way, but the making of sweets and snacks has reduced quitea bit owing to all the heath consciousness and of course, crackers have becomealmost zero. (Just a few sparklers for my daughter). But I really enjoyed myDiwali as a kid rather than an adult.

Today I am sharing a simple recipe for a healthy chivda,which can be made with minimum oil and that too in a Microwave in almost notime. Chivda is a popular Maharastrian snack, made from crunchy beaten rice oraval. So let’s get to the recipe without any further delay.

What you’ll need:

1. Thin beatn rice/poha - 3 cups

2. Mustard Seeds – 1 Tsp

3. Roasted Channa Dal/ Pottukadalai – 2 handfuls

4. Unsalted raw peanuts – 2 handfuls

5. Green chilly – 1, chopped

6. Curry leaves – a few

7. Turmeric powder – a pinch

8. Oil – 2 to 3 tsps

9. Salt to taste

Method

Place the poha in a shallow microwave safe dish, and microwave on High for 2 minutes stirringonce after one minute.
In another microwave dish, add the oil and mustard seeds andmicrowave on High for 2 minutes.
To this add the chopped green chilly, roasted channa dal,peanuts, curry leaves and turmeric powder. Mix well and then microwave on Highfor another 2 minutes.
Next add the poha to this seasoning and mix well. Microwaveon High for another 1 minute.
Cool completely and then add salt to taste. You can also adda pinch of sugar if you like.

That’s it crunchy and crispy chivda is ready.

Celebrate Diwali with this healthy and tasty chivda.

Note: The above mentioned quantity of poha, served about 5 to 6 small cups. The entire thing got over in just a day. So adjust quantity accordingly.

Linking this to Radhika’s Diwali Special – Sweets and Snacks,Khushi’s My Diwali My Way, and Sravani’s – Festive Foods Events.

Also linking this to Srivalli's MEC event hosted at the Pumpkin Farm

Chow Chow Pala Pindi Miriyam

2011-10-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

In my house, almost on 3 to 4 days of the week, I have tocook something without onions and garlic, since MIL does not eat them. Most ofthe days, dinner would be rotis and to make a side dish without onions is alwaysa challenge for me. So I am always on the lookout for such recipes. That’s whenI found this very interesting recipe: Chow Chow Pala Pindi Miriyam at Harini’sspace, with whom I have been paired for this week’s Blog Hop. I made this fordinner yesterday as an accompaniment for rotis and the result was fingerlicking. My FIL who rarely comments on anybody’s cooking, liked it very muchand I happily told him that it is from one of my fellow blogger’s space. So thisrecipe is going to be a regular in my kitchen.

Serves 3 to 4

What you’ll need

1. Chow Chow/Chayote – 3 Medium Sized

2. Turmeric Powder – a pinch

3. Milk – ½ cup

4. Sugar – ½ to 1 tsp

5. Salt to taste

Dry Roast and Grind

1. Urad Dal – 2 tbsp

2. Peppercorns – 7 to 8

3. Uncooked Rice – 1 tsp

4. Dried Red Chillies – 1 to 2

5. Scraped Fresh Coconut – ½ cup

For Seasoning

1. Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp

2. Jeera – 1 tsp

3. Red Chillies – 1

4. Curry Leaves a few

5. Oil – 2 tspz

Method

Peel, core and chop chow chow into small cubes. Pressurecook this with about ½ cup of water and a pinch of turmeric powder.

In the meanwhile, dry roast the ingredients mentioned under dryroast and grind and grind it into a smooth paste addinglittle water.

Now heat a Kadai with oil, add the mustard seeds and let itcrackle, next add in the jeera and red chillies and finally the curry leaves.Now add the cooked Chow Chow and mix well. Add salt to taste. Let it boil for afew minutes.

Now add the ground paste and mix well. Finally add the milkand sugar. Give a good stir and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves. Yummy gravy is ready to be served with rotis or rice.

Linking this to Blog Hop Wednesday, Healing Foods – Coconut hostedby Sukanya started by Siri.

EBOOK - 100 YUMMY DIWALI SWEETS & DESSERTS

2011-10-18T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the much eagerly awaited e-book from Indus Ladies for this Diwali, which you can download from here. I am happy that my Godhuma Rava Kesari is featured in this book.

Feel free to share it with your family & friends

Have a wonderful and safe Diwali!!!!!!!!!!!!