March 14, 2010
20:11
Methi Dal - Fenugreek with Lentils
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Methi Dal - Fenugreek with Lentils

Aah finally what a weather, perfect sunny day with temperature in the upper 70's, a perfect sunny California day. well technically yesterday was the same too, we went out to hike and see the caves at Pinnacle National Park, with beautiful weather, surroundings and family it could not have gotten any better. We hiked for about 4 miles and surprisingly kids did not complain, caves were beautiful. I think kids are ready for their first 5K walk, if all goes as planned we will do this next week for a good cause.

Coming to today's recipe this is a family favorite, take more time than usual but so worth the taste. If you can't find fresh Methi frozen Methi can be very well substituted

Ingredients
1 bunch of fenugreek/methi leaves
1 cup masoor dal/pesara pappu
1 medium sized tomato
2 garlic cloves
juice of one lemon
for seasoning
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp jeera
few pinches of hing
pinch of haldi/turmeric
5-6 dry red chilies
1 tsp of red chili powder (adjust according to taste)
1-2 tbsp of oil
salt according to taste

Process
1. Chop methi finely and rinse to remove any mud and keep a side
2. In a pot add masoor dal/pesara pappu add enough water to cover and allow to cook for about 6-7 minutes on medium.
3. Now heat a pan and add oil, when hot add all the ingredients for seasoning , chopped garlic.
4. Saute for a minute and when mustard starts to pop, add tomatoes and saute
5. Now add chopped methi and saute till methi looses its raw smell, takes about 3-4 minutes.
5. Add boiled masoor dal/pesara pappu and salt and little bit of water.
6. Cook covered for about 3-4 minutes, use food processor to blend if you do not like the dry consistency. I blend it very roughly.
7. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and mix well.

Serve with roti's or rice.

18:10
Usher in the Ugadi with Yellow Jasmine
» ‎ Mahanandi

Yellow Jasmine in Bloom ~ A Warm Welcome to Spring

15:33
Roti on an Egg and a blogging break!
» ‎ Siri's Corner

March 13, 2010
23:39
Flora
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

(Pic from hiking trip)Happy Saturday everyone, too tired to write. Had a lovely day and visited one of the most beautiful national parks around. It was perfect sunny day in San Jose a day that's to be enjoy outdoors.

20:00
Bitter Gourd – Almond Stir Fry
» ‎ Essence Of Andhra
This is a delicious stir fry with bitter gourd. The bitterness of the bitter gourd isn’t felt at all!!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Bitter Gourd, cut into circles
- ½ cup Almonds
- 1 tsp Chili Powder (Less/More)
- 1 tbsp Tamarind Pulp, diluted with ¼ cup water (or a Lemon sized Tamarind soaked in water and juice extracted)
- 2 tsp Oil
- A pinch of Turmeric
- Salt
Preparation:

Dry roast almonds and grind into a coarse powder along with chili powder. Keep aside.
In a non-stick pan, heat oil and add bitter gourd pieces. To this add tamarind water (either pulp or juice). Stir well and add turmeric. Mix well, cover and allow cooking for some time until the bitter gourd pieces absorb all the tamarind water and becomes dry.
Later remove cover and add almond powder + salt. Mix well and allow cooking for some more time until the curry becomes soft and cooked. Leave it for some time on the low flame and remove.
This curry goes well with rice.

10:15
Beetroot Carrot Halwa
» ‎ Talimpu

Beetroot Carrot Halwa. Beetroot carrot halwa is prepared by pressure cooking beetroot and carrot in milk till they are soft. The beetroot and carrot mixture is then cooked in sugar till the sugar caramelizes and the mixture comes together. Sliced almonds give the halwa a good crunch while cardamom powder gives it a sweet flavor. Makes: around [...]

7:45
Double-Shot Mocha Chunks (Cookies) with some Chit Chat
» ‎ Cook's Hideout
Let me start with the Chit chat first: I went missing from this space for quite some time now. Lots of things are happening in life as a result of which not much activity going on in the kitchen. We just bought our first home and the whole process of finding a house, loan approval & closing was extremely stress-inducing (even though my husband being a worrier took care of everything, including the stress, I still had to deal with a little bit of it myself) and time consuming. We are really excited about moving into our OWN home and decorating it to our liking, but we are also a little bit nervous on how everything will turn out.
I have yet to start packing the kitchen (which I’m dreading already) and whole of S#%^@*$ that we accumulated through the years. I’m trying to go through things before packing, so I don’t end up with garbage in the new house; sort of starting our Spring cleaning a little early (FYI.. spring officially begins March 20^th.)
We had a small Gruha Pravesam (House blessing/ warming) ceremony with family and friends past weekend. We were lucky to find a Hindu priest who speaks telugu and the whole ceremony went extremely well. I was planning to cook the lunch, but ended up catering from a vegetarian restaurant called Sapthagiri in Jersey City. Everybody loved the food, I should have taken pictures but we were so busy with the guests that by the time I realized we had no pictures of food; most of the food was already gone.

Coming to the next topic of my post: Review of Jewelry & a Thank you.
Few weeks ago Sarah from Lushae Jewelry contacted me and asked me if I can try her jewelry and review it on my blog. I said YES and ordered this beautiful Floral Cocktail ring that matches with Amethyst studs & pendant that my mom bought me years ago. The ring looks absolutely amazing. The different size & slightly different color amethyst stones work extremely well together. I’ve got many complements on the ring already. Thanks Sarah for giving me the opportunity to try your gorgeous jewelry.

Few weeks back when Nupur (@ One hot stove) showed us her cute sleeve that she knitted to hold her plastic bags, I commented on her post that my drawer is also filled with plastic bags and I need to find a solution like her’s. I was so surprised when she offered to knit me a plastic bag holder and within a week I received this beautifully knitted plastic bag holder which is currently holding all my bags and has created ton of space in the drawer. Thank you so much Nupur.. You are the best.

That's my son's hand sneaking in fron the corner to pull out something from the drawer. :-)

Finally coming to the Mocha chocolate chip cookies, recipe courtesy King Arthur flour catalog. They didn’t spread as much as I expected them to (or as much as shown in the picture), but they tasted awesome-very chocolaty with a slight hint of coffee-not too sweet but just perfect. I used ghee for half the butter since I ran out of butter and the cookies had a slightly softer texture than crunchy.
Ingredients:
Unsalted Butter - 1/2 cup (I used 1/4cup butter + 1/4cup desi ghee)
Brown Sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder - 3/4tsp
Espresso powder - 1tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Eggs - 2
Vanilla extract - 2tsp
Dutch-process Cocoa powder - 2/3 cup
White Whole wheat flour or Unbleached All-purpose flour - 1 3/4 cup
Semi sweet chocolate chips - 1 cup
Chocolate chunks - 1 cup (I used a mix of white & dark chocolate)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350F.Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the butter (&ghee), sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt.
- Add eggs and vanilla, beating until smooth.
- Stir in the cocoa powder, then the flour; the dough will be stiff. Mix in the chocolate chunks & chips.
- Drop the cookies by tablespoonfuls (about 1.5" balls) onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1.5" between them.
- Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes. Remove from the oven, and allow them to cool on the pan.

1:49
Paneer Bhurji
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Paneer Bhurji

Yay !! it's Friday and I am looking forward to weekend like always :) Have few fun things planned hopefully rain will not ruin it for us. Planning to watch Food 101, watched bits and part of it, seems like in your face kind of movie about food we eat especially in US, one thing that caught my attention right away is the emphasis in knowing where your food comes from, quality vs. quantity. Will update once I get to watch the movie without interruption and in whole.

Today's recipe is one of the most common recipe, more so in northern India I presume.As with any Indian recipe, this can be customized and tailored to ones preference of spices and flavor. So here goes my version.

Ingredients
1 Pack of Paneer (14 oz) cubed in about 1 inch
2 tomatoes cubes
1 red onion
1-2 tbsp ginger garlic paste (optional)
1 tbsp Kasoori Methi
1 tbsp Garam masala
1 tbsp dhania powder
1/2 tbsp amchur
1/2 tbsp chat powder (optional)
1/2 tbsp haldi/tumeric
1 tbsp red chili powder
1 tbsp ketchup (add if you like your sabji to have sweet flavor)
Salt according to taste
1-2 tbsp of oil

Process
1.Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan, when hot add ginger garlic paste, kasoori methi,garam masala, dhania powder,haldi and mix well for few seconds.
2. Add chopped onions and saute for about a minute or two till onions turn golden and translucent.

3. Add chopped tomatoes and remaining ingredients.
4. Add cubed paneer and salt and mix well.
5. With a hand masher, mash paneer into small pieces being caution of not making a mush.
6. Add ketchup and about 1/4 glass of water, check for salt and cook covered for about 4-5 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander and serve.
Works well with roti's,naan and chapathis.
Happy weekend everyone !!!

March 12, 2010
13:21
Masala Upma
» ‎ Zaiqa

This quick and simple preparation and a comforting one-dish meal is wholesome and perfect for a satisfying breakfast, brunch or a yummy snack and easy to take delight in. So when I returned home today tired and exhausted after a trip to the grocery mart and the Jumah salah, I thought of whipped up this [...]

11:02
Cabbage Paratha
» ‎ Talimpu

Cabbage Paratha. For cabbage paratha, grated cabbage is cooked along with green chiles and ginger in tempered oil till the cabbage is soft and dry. The cooked cabbage is then stuffed into wheat dough and rolled out into thick parathas. The cabbage paratha is cooked on flat pan until its golden brown on both sides. Makes: around [...]

8:48
Ugadi ~ Festival Recipes
» ‎ Sailus Food

Ugadi, Telugu New Year, is on 16th March, 2010. I have complied few festival recipes that can be prepared for Ugadi, to make it convenient for my dear readers. Hope you enjoy preparing the recipes and relish the festive treats with family and friends.

Ugadi Pachadi

Paramannam, Bobbatu, Badam Halwa

Atukulu Payasam ~ Rice flakes Kheer

Bellam Garelu ~ Jaggery Vadas

Boorelu

Chandrakantalu

Semiya Payasam

Kajjikayalu

Kobbari Burfi

Halwa Boorelu, Gavalu, Besan Laddu

Sorakaya Payasam ~ Bottle Gourd Kheer

Pesarapappu Payasam ~ Moong dal Kheer

Jantikalu

Ribbon Murukku

Pappu Chekkalu

Pulihora

Nimmakaya Annam ~ Lemon Rice

Rava Pulihora

Mamidikaya Pulihora ~ Raw Mango Rice

Ugadi Bhojanam ~ Festival Thali

Talimpu Senagalu
~ Seasoned Black Chickpeas

Aratikaya Bajji ~
Raw Plantain Fritters

Ulli Garelu ~ Onion Vadas

Mamidikaya Pappu ~ Raw Mango Dal

Mudda Pappu ~ Cooked tur dal

Pappu Pulusu

Mukkala Pulusu

Vankaya Batani ~ Brinjal Peas

Potato Fry

Gutti Vankaya Kura ~ Stuffed Brinjal

Kobbari Mamidikaya Pachadi

Carrot Coriander leaves Pachadi
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailusfood.com%2F2010%2F03%2F12%2Fugadi-festival-recipes%2F'; addthis_title = 'Ugadi+%7E+Festival+Recipes'; addthis_pub = 'sailajag';

3:05
Fruit ‘N Cracker Shake
» ‎ Essence Of Andhra
Presenting another way to use up excess crackers/cookies!! Again I used Ritz salt crackers for the shake. The milkshake turned out so good and everyone liked it so much. And it’s sugar-free!!
Here are some other crazy but yummy varieties I tried with these crackers:
- Pakodas with Salt Crackers
- Variety Bajjis
Ingredients: (For 4 persons)
- 10 Salt Crackers
- 2 ripe Bananas
- 1 small Apple, peeled and cubed
- 2 cups Milk
Preparation:
Just add all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Filter to remove the pulp, pour into individual glasses and enjoy!!

March 11, 2010
21:38
Calling it a night
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

(Lavender blooming in my backyard)Well its been ages since I went to bed by 9.00, plan to hit the sack early today, had quite an stressful day and glad it ended with a beautiful dinner with family.
Counting all my blessing and good night all.
Love,Sreelu

10:44
Besan Dosa
» ‎ Talimpu

Senagapindi Dosa. Besan dosa is one of the instant dosa’s prepared with gram flour and rice flour. Equal quantities of besan and rice flour is mixed with other spices into thin batter. A big ladle full of batter is poured on the hot flat pan in circular motions to form the dosa. The besan dosa [...]

4:16
Papdi (Papri) Chaat
» ‎ Sailus Food

Papdi Chaat
Indians love their favorite chaat wala and spend many a evening eating their favorite masala puri or pani puri, relishing its magical, addictive flavors like there’s no tomorrow. And why not? Its comforting food that warms the palate, delicious and economical on the wallet.
Rolled out Papdi ~ Papdi
In the realm of chaat recipes, Papdi Chaat, is a favorite. The green and sweet chutney drizzled on a bed of papdi, lends a sweet, tangy and savory note, further fortified with beaten yogurt and finished with chopped onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves and sev, adding crunch to the hearty chaat. A crowd-pleasing appetizer recipe that is quick to fix provided you have done some preparation work ahead. Wow your guests by artfully arranging the papdi with zesty toppings and vibrant garnishes for an impressive beginning to a dinner.
Papdi Recipe
Prep: 20 mts, Sitting time: 15 mts, Cooking time: 20 mts
Serves 10-12 persons
Cuisine: Indian
Source: Recipe files
.
Ingredients:
1 cup maida/all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kalonji/onion seeds (optional)
1 tbsp oil or ghee
salt to taste
water for kneading
oil for deep frying
1 Take a wide plate and add the maida, oil, kalonji and salt and combine. Slowly add water and make a smooth dough. Leave aside covered with damp cloth for 15 mts.
2 Knead the dough again for a mt. Pinch off some dough and make very small balls. Roll out small thin rotis. Make deep dents in the roti using a fork or knife.
3 Heat enough oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. It should be on medium high and once its hot, slide the roti into the hot oil and allow to cook. Flip over and fry the other side till light golden brown. Don’t fry too much as it will turns too dark. Remove on to absorbent paper.
4 Cool and store in an air tight container and use when required.
Note: Ensure the oil is hot enough before frying the papdi. If the oil is not hot enough, the papdi will absorb a lot of oil. Alternately, you can roll out a big sized roti and cut it into diamonds as shown in the image above.
Papri Chaat
How to make Papdi Chaat
Take a wide serving plate. Place 4-5 papdis, layer each papdi with chopped or mashed boiled potato and boiled chickpeas. Next spoon green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney. Spoon sweetened curd/dahi. Sprinkle some chopped onion. Finally finish off with sev and coriander leaves. Serve immediately.
Green (Hari) Chutney Recipe
Sweet (Meeta) Chutney Recipe
Sev Recipe
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailusfood.com%2F2010%2F03%2F11%2Fpapdi-papri-chaat-recipe%2F'; addthis_title = 'Papdi+%28Papri%29+Chaat'; addthis_pub = 'sailajag';

March 10, 2010
20:21
Almost Spring
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Busy day today feel worn out, wish I knew the art of saying NO sigh !!
Few Daisies from my backyard , enjoy !!!

15:25
What's Your Tradition?
» ‎ when my soup came alive

This is something that has been on my mind for a while but reading Indo's and Sandeepa's latest posts, I decided it's time I did some musing too, though my post is not directly related to theirs.

As bloggers, and those who write mostly about food, there's a lot we write about 'the tradition in my family'. We romanticise (me included) how our mothers and grandmothers made this or that, how a recipe is traditional, peculiar to our homes, or twisted (you know what I mean - with a twist in it), etcetera etcetera. In my case, it's not only the loss of these treats that makes me nostalgic, it's also that I sometimes cannot bear to face what I've cooked myself that makes me miss them, the people and the dishes, all the more.

I would even go so far as to say that I really don't know much about my community's special culinary tradition, if it has one, or that in the home I grew up, we just didn't discuss food much (unless it was to tell me to eat less of it). It was there, it was tasty and varied enough to make us look forward to it and we ate it. Of course, if there was some new-fangled dish, like cauliflower pickle, it would be discussed and perhaps forgotten promptly, I really don't know.

My mother works, and so doesn't have any time to spend in the kitchen unless the cook takes a day off. My grandmother cooked for us as long as she could, and then a cook took over. Excited about a new cook, who came from a canteen, we asked him to make something special, and he was handed the vanilla essence when he asked for something that sounded like essence. We had chilli chicken flavoured with vanilla essence that day.

None of the women on either side of my family were taught to cook. It was always 'Study, study, knowledge and career aren't as easily achieved as cooking'. In fact, an aunt says she would often wish her mother had taught her how to cook - when she migrated to a new country, she found herself at a loss, not knowing what to make or how to make it. Perhaps my grandmothers' unfulfilled dreams for their own lives made them decide their children shouldn't end up just cooking and planning meals day after day. Some of my aunts are great cooks but I think it was their own interest and circumstances that helped, but no one, not even my great-grandmothers, as far as I know, said anything about it.

It's a life skill, of course, but to women who were immersed in housekeeping, probably not one of great consequence. One of my great grandmothers, who passed away just 12 years ago, would always ask me if I'd got a raise, but never a traditional question. At the most, she would tell me to spend well and eat well, but that's it. And some of the aunts were so uninvolved with food that after a hard day's work, they would heat up cold rice, mix it with salt and chilli powder and make a meal of it.

I don't know what I'm trying to achieve through this post, probably trying to say how 'traditional' isn't always traditional. And that perhaps, 'no tradition' is a tradition all its own. I'm no authority on anything but it is generally agreed that the 'masala box' is quintessentially Indian. But in fact, we never had one at home. I do, but not my parents. Even if they do, it's probably tucked away somewhere in the storeroom. My grandmother, and the cook after her, mix up the mustard, cumin and the urad dal in a jar and just throw in a bit of it when they need to temper something. The cardamom and cloves are in the storeroom as they aren't used as much as the other spices, and the salt, turmeric and chilli powder are in their own containers. So strange, and novel, was the discovery of a masala box to me - everything in one place, in plastic, steel and even Tupperware (not that I possess the very latter).

Then there's the spice level. Just as Sandeepa gets "Rosshogulla" each time she tells someone she's a Bengali, I get "Oh, spy-sssee! (spicy)" or "I love the avakai pickle you guys make!" I have to confess we are a great avakai family, with vats of it being made every year for our own consumption as well as that of aunts and uncles living overseas, but the funny thing is, we don't call it avakai. We just call it 'mamidikaya pachchadi', avakai coming from the mustard powder that goes into the pickle.

And I don't ever remember eating food so spyzee (spicy) that it would have you burn and bleed over the toilet the next day - that was more or less the odd case, it's not as if we Telugus uniformly make that kind of spicy food. And I hate it when 'Andhra restaurants' paint their food in red (chilli powder) just so that they can keep up with the popular image of the mouthwatering, and yes, eyes-watering food the State is supposed to produce!

Am I giving you the idea of a very practical, even boring, family kitchen? Practical, maybe, but not boring. The cooks themselves (grannies) did not go into raptures over this recipe or that, they must have had enough for a lifetime, or perhaps believed in the 'eat-to-live' principle. (Two generations later, younger now than they were then, and on a bad day, I feel the same way.) But parties always saw cocktail sausages and French fries on toothpicks, pressure cooker caramel custard; festivals saw the traditional pulihora and payasam. And to me tradition and habit were as much those as rice and curd and pickle as well as ootappam with tomato ketchup, milk without sugar, and tiffin with anything but coconut chutney.

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10:32
Red Bell Pepper Rasam
» ‎ Talimpu

Butta Pachi Mirapakaya Rasam. Red bell pepper rasam or red capsicum rasam is a colorful and healthy rasam made with red bell pepper. Bell pepper is either cooked or roasted until soft. It is then pureed and added to the tempered oil along with freshly ground spice powder. Let the bell pepper rasam come to a [...]

9:16
Egg Fry
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Egg Fry

Now that I have started to cook eggs at home, I seem to be on a roll , first it was curried egg wrap and now this. Seriously realized eggs are so versatile and easy to cook, they pretty much gel with any spices, which is why it makes it fun to cook.

Ingredients
6 hard boiled eggs, shelled
1 large onion

For seasoning

2-3 green chilies
1/2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 tbsp garam masala ( or choice of other spices like whole spice,curry powder)
1 tbsp cumin powder (optional)
1 tbsp paprika/red chili powder
few sprigs of curry leaves
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
1/2 tbsp tumeric (haldi for color, optional )
salt according to taste
2-3 tbsp oil

coriander for garnish

Process
1. Deshell boiled eggs and slit them gently, this helps eggs absorb the flavor.
2. Heat a pan add oil , when hot add all the dry seasoning ingredients, chilies, ginger and curry leaves.
3 Saute for few seconds and add onions and fry till they turn translucent add salt and mix well.
4. Now add eggs and toss the eggs till they are well coated and covered.
5. Allow it cook on low flame for about 4-5 minutes .
6. Check for salt and adjust accordingly and remove from heat.

I think these can be eaten as a whole meal or serve with your choice of carbs .

1:25
Ugadi Special Dishes!
» ‎ Cooking 4 all Seasons

As a kid I fondly remember looking forward to Ugadi every year. It was one festival when Amma would make Poli and she used to make so much to distribute to the entire neighborhood. It took us quite some time to convince her to make the Sweet Polis on other days too.
After marriage, I was elated to know that Athamma has the custom of making Poli for all festivals. It is only natural that I embrace this habit wholeheartedly!
This year Ugadi falls on March 16th 2010 and is the most important festival celebrated in Andhra Pradesh.
I thought I would list out the dishes that we normally make at home for Ugadi.

Yugadi (Kannada: ಯುಗಾದಿ, Telugu: ఉగాది) from yuga + aadi, yuga means era, aadi means start. The start of an era) is the new year's day for the people of the Deccan region of India. While the people of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh use the term Yugadi/Ugadhi for this festival, the people of Maharashtra term the same festival, observed on the same day, Gudi Padwa. Sindhis, people from Sindh, celebrate the same day as their New Year day Cheti Chand.[1]- source Wiki

Check our festival lunch from last year!

The special Festival lunch would almost be same every year with few alterations and additions.

At my Mom's place we make the following

Pachimirapakaya Pappu ~ Dal with Green Chilli

Ugadi Pachadi,
Poli,

Masala Vada/ Meddu Vada
Onion Pakodas/ Vazhakai Bajji ~ Plaintain or Banana fritters

Semiya Payasam

While the special dishes at my in laws would always be

Chitrannam
Brinjal Potato Curry,

Poli,

We also make Onion Baji or other deep fried specials.

This year I am discussing with them on what to make new. Meanwhile I hope you enjoy reading these and would find this collection useful.

March 09, 2010
19:13
Masala Vada
» ‎ Mahanandi

Vada’s exquisite flavor and deep aroma brought to perfection over the centuries, evoke and accentuate the subtlest nuances of taste. Its warm appeal have long been celebrated in a cuisine which demands that the eye as well as the palate find satisfaction. Its gritty, yielding texture has been prized for being addictive in nature and [...]

17:13
Tala hua Gosht~III
» ‎ Zaiqa

I really love to discuss food; and also to host food events on my blog despite the effort it demands. Often it happens that with changing scenes of life, we tend to disremember and think no more of our most innate and deeply connected basic memories. And when by some means that old faded memory rejuvenates, you [...]

10:20
Sweet Potato Coconut Curry
» ‎ Talimpu

Chilakada Dumpa Kobbari Koru Koora. Sweet potato and coconut is a simple and fresh curry with a sweet tone. Sweet potato is peeled and either grated or finely chopped. Grated sweet potato is cooked in tempered oil till soft. It is then finished with grated fresh coconut and roasted peanuts. Serve this as a accompaniment [...]

6:12
Masala Puri Chaat
» ‎ Sailus Food

Masala Puri ~ Ragda Puri
Chaat is the most fascinating culinary concoctions prepared in the street corners or gallis of every city/town of our country. Isn’t the smell of street food enticing? Isn’t it exciting to watch the street food vendor swiftly assemble a plate of Chaat with all its colorful assortment of spices and chutneys? Just one mouthful is enough to relish the contrasting flavors with gusto. Its probably the best snack one has devoured, leaving with an after taste that is hard to forget.
Masala Puri Ingredients
Each region has its version of Masala Puri aka Ragda Puri. A Chaat special that has curried peas aka ragda as a topping over crushed puris, a smothering of meeta chutney and green chutney and finished off with sev. A popular quick eat that is lip smacking delicious!
Ragda Recipe
Soaking: 8 hrs Prep & Cooking: 40 mts
Serves 4-5 persons
.
Ingredients:
250 gms green or white peas, soak in water overnight and pressure cook till soft
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped
3-4 green chillis, slit length wise
1 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp asafoetida/hing
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
1/2 tsp cumin pwd
garam masala pwd (2 cloves, 1/2″ cinnamon, 1 cardamom)
1 tbsp tamarind paste
fresh coriander leaves for garnish
salt to taste
1/2 tbsp ghee
1 Heat oil in a vessel, add the cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add green chillis and grated ginger and saute for 4-5 seconds. Immediately add the asafoetida, followed by the onion. Cook on medium heat for 4-5 mts.
2 Add the spice pwds (except garam masala pwd) and salt. Combine well. Add the tomatoes and cook until soft.
3 Add the boiled peas (keep aside 3 tbsps of boiled channa and mash them). Add a cup of water and cook on high heat for another 3-4 mts. Reduce flame and cook on simmer for another 7-8 mts. Add the mashed channa and combine. Add the tamarind paste, combine and cook for another 3-4 mts.
4 While the ragda is simmering add garam masala pwd. The gravy will begin to thicken. Adjust the salt. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
5 Serve hot with bhatura or rotis or proceed to prepare Ragda patties or Masala Puri.
Puri
Puri/Puchka Recipe
Prep: 10 mts, Sitting time: 30, Cooking time: 20-30 mts
Serves 8-10 persons
Cuisine: Indian
Source: Recipe files
.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup maida/all-purpose flour
1/2 cup urad dal flour
1 1/2 cups ravva/semolina/sooji
little less than 1/4 cup atta/whole wheat flour (those who are allergic to wheat can omit)
1 tbsp oil or ghee
salt to taste
water for kneading
oil for deep frying
1 Combine all the mentioned ingredients (except oil for deep frying), adding water slowly and make a dough. Leave aside covered with damp cloth for 30 mts.
2 Knead the dough again. Pinch off some dough and make very small balls. Roll out small thin rotis, using the rim of a container to cut out the round shape.
3 Heat enough oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. It should be on medium high and once its hot, slide the roti into the hot oil and using the back of the ladle, press in the center and along the edges and you will find it will puff. Flip over and fry the other side till light golden brown. Don’t fry too much as it will turns too dark. Remove on to absorbent paper.
4 Cool and store in an air tight container and use when required.
Note: Ensure the oil is hot enough before frying the puri. If the oil is not hot enough, the roti will absorb a lot of oil. In case you do not have urad dal flour, replace it with 1/2 cup of maida. If made ahead of time, lightly warm in oven for 3-4 mts before serving. Instead of water, you can use soda water (fizz) to make the dough. Ensure to roll out very think puris. And use very fine sooji.
Masala Poori Chaat
How to make Masala Puri Chat:
Take a wide serving plate. Crush some puris or papdi and prepare the first layer, next layer with mashed potato. Over that spoon the warm ragda along with enough gravy. Sprinkle chopped onion and tomato. Spoon some green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney. Spoon sweetened curd/dahi (purely optional). Finally finish off with coriander leaves, a pinch of saunf pwd (optional) and sev. Serve immediately. Best savored when ragda is warm.
Green (Hari) Chutney Recipe
Sweet (Meeta) Chutney Recipe
Sev Recipe
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailusfood.com%2F2010%2F03%2F09%2Fmasala-puri-chaat%2F'; addthis_title = 'Masala+Puri+Chaat'; addthis_pub = 'sailajag';

March 08, 2010
22:57
Atukula Pulihara - Poha Pulihara
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Yesterday was my grandmother's 80th birthday and recipe for today is her speciality. She would make this every year for Sri Rama Navami celebration at our local temple as offering. Yesterday made the same and offered it to my local temple. This makes an excellent dish when you have to feed a crowd and tastes even better next day.

Poha
Ingredients
2 cups poha ( Makes for about 1/2 tray, I use the thick variety)
about 2-3 cups of tamarind juice ( must be of consistency like tea or coffee)
salt according to taste
sugar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp haldi
2 large onions cubed
For seasoning
8-10 green chilies
2tbsp jeera
2 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp urad dal
2 tbsp channa dal
1/2 tbsp fenugreek seeds
a pinch of astefodia/hing
few springs of curry leaves
1 cup of peanuts/cashew nuts
1/2 cup oil ( seriously its not to much, you don't get the flavor without it)

Process
1. In a large vessel big enough to hold 2 cups of poha , add tamarind juice, salt and sugar, make sure poha is well moistened not too much covered, too much tamarind juice will make poha soggy.
2. Allow it to soak tamarind juice at least for about 2hrs, check in between and make sure it mix it to avoid getting it lumpy and sticky.

Poha after 2 hr of soaking in tamarind water mixture.
4. Now in a large pan add 1/2 cup of oil and all the ingredients for seasoning and saute well.
5. Add onions and saute till they turn golden brown.
6. Now add soaked poha and mix well till all the seasoning is well incorporated.
7. Check for salt and adjust, if required add more sugar to cut down tangyness from tamarind.
8. Allow it to cool and serve with yogurt.

Its tangy and caramelized onions add sweet flavor, end result happy stomach :)

15:57
Revisiting older posts: Vegetarian Burger Indian Style!
» ‎ Cooking 4 all Seasons
Sometime back I thought I should redo things for better. Yes many times in life we think we should get another chance. Maybe not all times we are offered this opportunity but in a food blog you can right. I decided seeing the hasty pictures and what not, I should click better pictures and post them.
This is the first of this venture. I removed the older pictures as they were such sore ones that I didn't want to see them myself!

The hearty Burgers with these another version patties will make any day more bright than what it was. I used the white sauce instead of Mayonnaise and Veg Patties instead of the usual meat. Konda loved it much and eat them through the day.

Weekend was F.U.N, you can read between lines or letters. But then I am kidding, Saturday went well and Sunday went off without a hint, meaning it was so hectic that none of us had a moment to breath! I really salute those teachers who man 40 toddlers! Imagine your plight if you got to oversee 40 smart zippy kids who are always one step ahead you and you a grown up adult left wondering how to outsmart them, no chance.

Anyway hubby dear finally what one has to do. He took them to shop and bribed them with toys. All three came back with a big bag which had a Rail Engine, Aeroplane, a smaller aeroplan, and another car. They were so occupied with it that they didn't know we went missing for 30 mins. And they even slept with it on them. Believe me they got up twice at night, to ensure their new toys were within reach. Boys I tell you..

As for a recipe for the day, I am revisiting my Burgers, hope you enjoy the pictures. I recently posted this recipe on Beyond Curries, wanted to share it with all of you.

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Vegetarian Burgers Indian Style

Ingredients:

Burger buns - 4 nos
Onions Rings - 8 slices
Tomato Rings - 5 -6
Shredded Cabbage as per taste
White Sauce - 1 cup
Cheese Slices - 4
Potato Peas Patties - 4 nos
Tomato Sauce - 3 tbsp
Red Chili flakes - 1 tsp (opt)
Method to prepare:

To make the White Sauce: Whisk 1 cup of All purpose flour along with 3 cups of milk and cook in 1 tbsp of butter till you get a smooth sauce.

To make the patties: Boil Potatoes, carrot and peas, mash it finely. Then sauté onions, ginger garlic paste along with green chili paste, cumin powder. Then add the boiled potatoes and peas. Once it is cooled, make equal balls, dip in flour that is mixed with water, then on bread crumbs. Shallow fry in on a non stick pan until crisp.
To assemble to burger.

Slice the burger bun through the middle,

Spread the inner sides with white sauce liberally.

On the lower slice, place a cheese slice, sprinkle some tomato sauce if you like.

Press one Patty firmly on it.

Then place the onion slices, Actually you can separate the rings and use less. But I like to munch on the entire slice as such!

Next goes the tomato slices, then the shredded cabbage, Sprinkle the tomato sauce again!

Finally place the top bun slice back on this and press down firmly so that they stick together!

Optionally you can sprinkle Red Chili flakes for extra kick!

I had promised to make this for my daughter for her breakfast. She was very upset as I couldn't finish on time. So she lived on burgers through the day, for lunch, evening snacks and for dinner. I only tasted a quarter piece of the tempting one so I know it was way to good!

Notes:
- White Sauce can be prepared ahead of time and stored.
- Same goes for Patties too. And you can make any vegetable into a patti. Make in batches and refrigerate it for 2 -3 days. Make it on demand for the kids.

14:27
Chikkudukaya/Broad beans Cabbage Curry
» ‎ Indian Cooking

This is another recipe to the simple curries. Healthy, easy and fast to make it. Now-a-days I am trying to follow Manthena Satyanarayana raju's diet. I cannot say I can follow it totally but slowly trying to reduce the usage of Oil and salt in daily consumption and finding alternatives for it. so lets see how it goes.

Note: will post pictures soon.

Ingredients
Chikkudukaya (Broad beans, tuvar)
Cabbage - 1/2
Tomato - 2 no. - optional
Oil - 3 table spoons
turmeric - 1/2 tea spoon
red chillies/green chillies/ red chilli powder - add them according to your taste buds. I added 2 hot red chillies and 4 green chillies.
Salt - 1 - 1 1/2 table spoon
Jeera - 1/2 tea spoon
chana dal - 1 table spoon (or may add more if you like crunchiness in between)

Method of preparation
Just like any other simple recipe, do the tadka by adding oil in kadai.
After it becomes heat, add jeera and then add chana dal. If you are planning on adding green/red/both chillies then add it now. fry for a minute and add Chikkudukaya and Cabbage chopped ones to it. once the vegetables are little cooked, add tomatos and salt to it. Garnish with coriander and cilantro to get nice flavor, smell and healthy. Enjoy your curry with rice or roti.
14:19
Sorakaya/doodhi Cauliflower
» ‎ Indian Cooking

IngredientsSorakaya - 1/2 - 1 no. long (peeled and chopped)Cauliflower - 1/2 - 1 no. (seperated into small florets)Tomato - 2 no.Onion - one small Carrot - 1 small - optional ( I grated it but you can choose your own style)Red chilli powder/Red chillies - according to your tasteturmeric - 1/2 tea spoonOil - 3-4 table spoonsJeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tea spoonSalt - 1 - 2 table spoons
Method of preparation1. Take a kadai and put it on stove (switched on obviously :) ).2. Add oil to it. Once oil is heated add jeera to it and onions if desired.3. Once onions become little translucent, add sorakaya(doodhi), cauliflower and carrots. Remember not to turn excessly as cauliflowers may become mushy very easily. 4. Add turmeric and red chilli powder. and turn once.5. Once the vegetables are almost cooked, add salt and tomatos and heat it for another 2-4 minutes.6. Garnish with coriander and curry leaves and serve it with rice or roti.

11:26
Tomato – Onion Chutney (Oil Free)
» ‎ Essence Of Andhra
This is very simple chutney that can be prepared instantly and easily. It goes well with dosas, rotis, rice and also as stuffing in curries (especially with Eggplant).
Ingredients:
- 1 big Onion, diced
- 1 big Tomato, diced
- 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice or Tamarind Pulp (I used Lemon Juice)
- 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 2 tsp red Chili Powder (or more/less)
- Salt
Preparation:

Add onion + tomato + cumin seeds to a pan and sauté well without adding any oil. Keep aside to cool.
When it becomes cold, grind it into a smooth paste by adding chili powder + lemon juice + salt. No need to add any excess water as tomato already contains water.
That’s all!! Enjoy this yummy and healthy chutney as desired.

10:20
Beetroot Curry with Moong Dal
» ‎ Talimpu

Beetroot Pesarapappu Kura. Beetroot is paired with moong dal just like carrots are. Beetroot is chopped up and cooked in tempered oil along with soaked moong dal for this curry. Moong dal can also be boiled till translucent before adding to the beetroot which accounts for a much softer version. Makes: around 2 Servings of Beetroot Curry [...]

4:35
Ragda Patties ~ Aloo Tikki Chaat
» ‎ Sailus Food

Wishing all my dear women readers and bloggers a Happy Women’s Day!Ragda Patties
Mumbai’s popular fast food snack prepared with curried dried peas aka ragda that is spooned over Aloo Patties/Cutlets along with an assortment of chutneys and garnished with onion, tomatoes, sev and fresh coriander leaves. Also known as Aloo Tikki Chaat in North India, where its prepared without ragda. A plate of ragda patties along with a glass of fresh juice or lassi makes for a filling, wholesome evening meal.
Ragda Patties Ingredients
Ragda Recipe
Soaking: 8 hrs Prep & Cooking: 45 mts
Serves 4-5 persons
.
Ingredients:
250 gms green or white peas, soak in water overnight and pressure cook till soft
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped
3-4 green chillis, slit length wise
1 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp asafoetida/hing
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
1/2 tsp cumin pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
garam masala pwd (2 cloves, 1/2″ cinnamon, 1 cardamom)
1 tbsp tamarind paste (optional)
fresh coriander leaves for garnish
salt to taste
1/2 tbsp oil
1 Heat oil in a vessel, add the cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add green chillis and grated ginger and saute for 4-5 seconds. Immediately add the asafoetida, followed by the onion. Cook on medium heat for 4-5 mts.
2 Add the spice pwds (except garam masala pwd) and salt. Combine well. Add the tomatoes and cook until soft.
3 Add the boiled peas (keep aside 3 tbsps of boiled peas and mash them). Add a cup of water and cook on high for 3-4 mts. Reduce flame and cook on simmer for 7-8 mts. Add the mashed peas and combine. Add the tamarind paste, combine and cook for 4-5 mts.
4 While the ragda is simmering, add garam masala pwd. The gravy will begin to thicken. Adjust the salt. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
5 Serve hot with bhatura or rotis or proceed to prepare Ragda patties or Masala Puri.
Ragda Pattice
How to make Ragda Patties Chat:
Aloo Tikki Recipe – Combine 2 mashed potatoes (should be cooled completely), 2 bread slices (remove sides), pinch of red chili pwd, 1 tsp green chilli-ginger paste, salt to taste. Make small patties/cutlets and shallow fry till golden brown on both sides.
Take a wide serving plate. Place two aloo tikkis, spoon some warm ragda over the tikkis. Next spoon green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney. Spoon sweetened curd/dahi (purely optional). Sprinkle some chopped onion and tomatoes. Finally finish off with sev and coriander leaves. Serve immediately. Best savored when ragda is warm.
Green (Hari) Chutney Recipe
Sweet (Meeta) Chutney Recipe
Sev Recipe
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March 07, 2010
21:54
Parvanam - Rice Pudding
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Parvanam - Rice Pudding
Annam Parvanam or Rice pudding is a special dish traditionally made during festivals or special events, I still remember when I tried to make this dish for the first time in life, i.e. when we moved to our apartment here in US about a decade ago, I seriously did not know how to cook and with instructions from mom ventured into making it. I am not sure if it’s missed instructions or tried to cook quickly on high flame, result was burnt pudding and boy the apartment had the smell for days, had to throw not just rice but the vessel I cooked in too. Nevertheless, have come long ways since then, learnt that patience pays especially with dish like this.
Ingredients
1 cup rice
2-3 cups of milk (I used 2%, using full fat will result in creamier pudding)
1-cup sugar
2-3 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter)
½ cup condensed milk (optional)
Few strands of saffron/kesar
¼ tbsp elachi/cardamom

For garnish
Raisins, cashew nuts, sliced almonds

Process
1.Soak strands saffron in about 3-4 tbsp of warm milk and allow it sit for few minutes.
2.Roast all the ingredients for garnish in a heavy bottom pan in clarified butter/ghee and keep as side.
3.In the same pan add rice and add milk, allow to cook in simmer for approximately 10 minutes.
4.After 10 minutes check for doneness, add milk if needed.
5.Now add elaichi/cardamom, sugar, condensed milk and saffron.
6.Mix until sugar is melted.
7.Add your choice of garnishes and remove from heat.
Serve hot and enjoy a soul satisfying rice pudding/parvanam.

17:55
Healing Foods: Avocado - A Roundup
» ‎ Siri's Corner

12:55
Anapakaya Iguru (Bottle Gourd Curry)
» ‎ Moms Kitchen - Andhra Recipes
Back home from a long, hectic fun-filled vacation in India. Trying to beat the winter doldrums and fit into my my regular schedules as I juggle between office, house hold chores, while I keep thinking of all the fun, frolic, shopping, pampering, and a lot of foods that I have grown up eating. Its been a month since I am back from a holiday and I still feel lazy enough to get into the kitchen to cook elaborate meals. Blame it on me or the cold nights we have, I am looking for quick meals that I could wrap up in no time. Here comes one recipe from my kitchen to all of you made with Anapakaya/Sorakaya aka bottle gourd. My mom cooks quite of few varieties with this green beauty which I plan to blog sooner or later but for now I decided to settle down with this simple curry cooked with onions and simmered in milk brings out the taste in this utterly delicious vegetable which I seldom ate when I was a child. Here is how….

Ingredients:

1 anapakaya/sorakaya/dudhi/bottle gourd - cut into bite sized pieces (about 3 cups)

2 mullakada/drumsticks cut into 2 inch pieces

1/2 tsp mustard seeds (avalu)

1/2 tsp jeera

8-10 curry leaves

6-8 green chilies (slit lengthwise)

2 medium onions finely chopped

2 garlic pods

1/4 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

2 tbsps oil

1 cup of water

1 cup of warm milk

Freshly chopped coriander leaves for garnish - 3-4 tbsps

How To:
- Heat oil in a pressure cooker, throw in the mustard seeds, and jeera. As they splutter, add green chillies, curry leaves and garlic pods. Saute for half a minute. Add chopped onions, turmeric and salt. Fry till onions turn soft and light golden brown in color (around 8-10 mts)
- Add drumstick pieces and fry for another 2 mts. Add water, cover with the pressure cooker lid and turn the flame to a high. When pressure starts put the whistle on and cook till 2-3 whistles. Turn the flame to low and let it cook for another 3-4 mts. Turn off the flame.
- When the pressure leaves, open the lid and cook on high if there is any water left in the curry. Once the water evaporates, add in a cup of warm milk and cook on medium flame till the curry resembles thick gravy consistency.
- Finally, add in freshly chopped coriander just before turning off the flame. Mix well and turn off the flame.
- Serve hot with rice or rotis.

6:36
Sev ~ Omapodi (Sana Karapusa)
» ‎ Sailus Food

Sev ~ Omapodi
Sev aka Omapodi/Karapusa is an essential savory item along with Sweet chutney and Green chutney, forming an integral part of most Indian street food snacks. Sev is prepared with chickpea flour (besan) and rice flour. Usually sev that is used to garnish chaats is much thinner than what you see in the picture above. I used the smallest holes of my sev press which yielded a slightly thick sev than the usual chaat sev.
Tastes divine on its own over a cup of hot chai or can be garnished over homemade chaat or prepare a savory mixture.
Sanna Karapusa deep frying – Sev
Sev Recipe
Prep & Cooking: 1 hr
.
Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour
1 1/4 cup chick pea flour/besan/senaga pindi
1/4 tsp red chilli pwd (optional)
1/2 tsp powdered vaamu/ajwain (optional)
salt to taste
1 tbsp hot ghee or oil
oil for deep frying
Murukku press/Janthikalu gottam or chatram
1 Put together rice flour, gram flour, salt, hot ghee or oil, chilli pwd and ajwain and combine well. Slowly add water little by little to make a soft dough, just soft enough that it is pressed through easily with the janthikalu/chakali press. Test the dough for salt before deep-frying.
2 Heat a wide heavy bottomed vessel with enough oil for deep frying. Take the janthikalu gottam aka murukku press and use the disc with smallest holes. Fill half of the press with the dough and once the oil is hot, reduce to medium flame and using circular motion, press the jantikalu gottam to make concentric layers of the sev dough. As you press the dough into the hot oil, you will find the oil froths up in bubbles which will eventually subside as the sev turns to a golden shade. Remember the frying has to be done on medium flame to achieve that golden color and crispness.
3 When the sev turns a golden color, turn over to the other side and let it also cook to a golden brown. Use a slotted ladle to remove onto an absorbent paper and cool. Repeat the same process till the rest of the dough is done. Cool completely before storing in an air tight metallic container.
Andhra Traditional Pindi Vantakam – Jantikalu Recipe
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March 06, 2010
23:50
How About Orange
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Another favorite DIY site of mine, How About Orange !!!. Well Orange is one of my favorite colors and no wonder I love their site and the creative that come with it, go check it out How About Orange

10:20
Sweet Potato Mango Chutney
» ‎ Talimpu

Chilakada Dumpa Mamidikaya Pachadi. Sweet potato and mango chutney is a very unique and healthy chutney with fresh flavor. Sweet potato is not cooked for this chutney. Both sweet potato and raw mango are ground into coarse paste along with green chiles. The chutney is finally tempered with typical South Indian spices and served with idly, [...]

4:56
Yoghurt coated Chicken
» ‎ FOODGODDESS

Yoghurt coated Chicken

March 05, 2010
22:44
Lakme Fashion Week
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Hottest week for showcasing Indian fashion, Lakme Fashion Week.
Check it out and enjoy at [www.lakmefashionweek.co.in]

Have a great weekend

14:02
Strawberry-Oats Cake
» ‎ Mahanandi

Spring is in the air and fresh berries are making an appearance in grocery stores. I bought a box of fresh strawberries yesterday and with some of those berries I baked a strawberry cake for the weekend. It is a substantial cake with a simple recipe. The surprise ingredient is oats and they make the [...]

10:20
Carrots in Lime Juice
» ‎ Talimpu

Nimmarasam lo Carrots. Pickled carrots are one of the favorite pickling ingredients. Like baby ginger, carrots and cut into strips and soaked in lemon juice till they mature and turn acidic. Green chiles can also be added for spice. Pickled carrots are generally eaten with rice mixed with some sort of dal / dhal or just [...]

5:27
Green (Hari) Chutney for Chaat
» ‎ Sailus Food

Green Chutney for Chaat
Apart from Sweet chutney, another essential item to assemble most Chaats is Green aka Hari Chutney, prepared with coriander leaves, pudina and lemon juice. Quick to make and can be refrigerated or frozen for many weeks. The chutney will retain its green color due to addition of lemon juice. Hari chutney is versatile and can also be served as a dip or as a spread for sandwich and Kathi roll apart from playing a colorful role in Chaat preparation.
Green (Hari) Chutney Recipe
Prep & Cooking: 15 mts
.
Ingredients:
2 cups chopped fresh coriander leaves, packed
1 cup fresh pudina/mint leaves, packed
2-3 green chillis (adjust)
2 tbsps lemon juice
2 tbsps water
1 1/2 tsps sugar
pinch of salt
1 Wash pudina and coriander leaves thoroughly and allow the water to drain.
2 Grind the pudina, mint leaves, salt, sugar, lemon juice and green chillis to a fine paste, by adding 2 tbsps water.
3 Remove into a bowl. Refrigerate until use. Goes well for chaats like Pani Puri, hot snacks like Samosa or as a spread for sandwich.
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailusfood.com%2F2010%2F03%2F05%2Fgreen-hari-chutney-for-chaat%2F'; addthis_title = 'Green+%28Hari%29+Chutney+for+Chaat'; addthis_pub = 'sailajag';

4:15
Pakodas with Salt Crackers
» ‎ Essence Of Andhra
This is a yummy way to consume any leftover salt crackers at home. If you’re like me who always buy items in bulk (I have to get rid of this habit) and finding a way to consume them without wasting, then this recipe is for you!! These pakodas tasted super-delicious.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered Salt Crackers (I used 20 Ritz Salt Crackers)
- 2 cups Chickpea Flour
- ¼ cup Rice Flour
- 1 small Onion, finely chopped
- 4 or 5 Green Chilies, finely chopped
- A handful of Cilantro, finely chopped
- A pinch of Baking Soda
- Salt as required
- Oil to deep-fry
Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients except oil and make a thick batter by using very little water. Don’t make it too runny.
Pour oil in a pan and when it becomes hot, take small batches of the batter and drop carefully into the oil. Fry till they turn golden brown in color and then remove from oil. Repeat the same process with the remaining batter. Spread on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
Enjoy these hot and yummy pakodas with desired dip or chutney and with a cuppa. Perfect for this winter and a rainy day!! Yummy!!

March 04, 2010
19:07
Tomato Bean Sabji
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Tomato Bean Sabji
Today's recipe is I am sure quite common in Indian house holds, and every house has it's own variation of spices, What this means is today recipe is almost like comfort food that we were used to eating growing up. On a different note totally tangential did you guys watch " My Name is Khan" what did you think ? I watched it two weeks back and I still can't figure out if I liked the movie or not. Usually when you walk out of the theatre I have a strong opinion of liked or unlike, for MNIK when I walked out, it was like noting happened. Few parts of the movie was very heart warming, especially since I have boys and they are getting to be about the same age as the kid in the movie, and any movie that depicts kids tragedy does not sit well with me, I just can't take it. So it felt real tragic to see those scenes on the screen and I think Kajol did a wonderful job by justifying with her action, and as far as Mr.Khan himself he did what he is best at, but every frame of the movie had him, seriously it was such an overdose. Its a different genre for Karan Johar and he I think still has ways to go to make another one like Kuch-Kuch-Hota-Hai in this genre.
So in the end I would say if you are still one of those wondering to watch or not, I would say watch it for San Fransisco, seriously city was shown so beautiful felt so proud that I stay so close by and for Kajol she absolutely looked stunning and very well dressed.
Sorry it was such a deviation from the recipe for today, customize todays recipe with your choice of spices, here goes my version

Ingredients

about 2 cups of fresh tender beans,cut into small cubes
2 tomatoes chopped
1 onion cubed into small pieces
1 tbsp ginger - garlic paste (optional)
1 tbsp jeera
1 tbsp dhania powder ( substitute any spice powder of your choice)
1/2 tbsp red chili powder
salt according to taste
1/2 tbsp haldi/tumeric
Process
1. In a pan add 2 tbsp oil and when hot add jeera and ginger garlic paste and curry leaves.
2. Add onions and saute for about 2-3 minutes till they turn translucent.
3. Add tomatoes and fry for a minutes.
4. Now add cut bean and add about 1/2 a glass water and mix well.
5. Add salt, dhania powder, haldi and red chili powder and mix well.
6. Cook covered for about 5-6 minutes, mixing it every few minutes.
7. Test to check beans are cooked, if not cook covered for few more minutes till done , check for salt and adjust accordingly.
8. Remove from heat and serve.

Wrap the bhaji/kura in a whole wheat tortilla or roti or serve it with rice, either way its comfort food.

15:40
Khadi Masoor ki Dal~Chard wali
» ‎ Zaiqa

Every person has his own share of ups and downs that he or she has to go through in their life. And these phases teach a lot. Life goes on, and the hope for a better tomorrow is what keeps everyone going. I am back to blogging after a much needed short break الحمد لله. Gorgeous [...]

10:22
Andhra Rawa Dosa
» ‎ Talimpu

Andhra Rawa Dosa. Rawa dosa is a popular South Indian breakfast dosa. It contains sooji and needs no fermentation. Equal ratios of sooji, rice flour and maida / plain flour are mixed with water for rawa dosa batter. A big ladle full of batter is poured on the hot flat pan in circular motions for the [...]

5:52
Oats & Brown Rice Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
» ‎ EgglessCooking

If you are a novice baker looking for an easy recipe to be successful with or in a hurry to whip up a batch of delicious cookies then this brown rice flour chocolate chip cookie recipe should be your first choice. Unlike the regular chocolate chip cookie recipe, this one doesn’t need butter, so you save time on bringing it to room temperature. This is almost instant. Just mix together flour, sugar, oil and a couple of other ingredients and by the the time the oven is preheated your cookie dough is ready. So within 30 minutes warm, delicious, fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies is ready.

This recipe is based on this barley chocolate chip cookie recipe. I used a mix of oat flour and brown rice flour instead. Since cookies don’t need much of rising unlike quick bread and cakes, I think you should be fine using any other flour in this recipe. This cookie recipe is also gluten friendly. If you make sure all the ingredients are gluten-free, this is a wonderful recipe. It’s vegan too when you use vegan chocolate chips. These cookies remained crisp even after a week.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
Oats & Brown Rice Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies Dry Ingredients: Oats Flour 1 and 1/4 cups Brown Rice Flour 1 and 1/4 cups Baking Soda 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar (I used light) 1 cup Granulated Sugar 1/2 cup Chocolate Chips 1 cup Nuts 1/2 cup
Wet Ingredients: Canola Oil 2/3 cup Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon EnerG egg replacer 4 teaspoons Warm Water 7 tablespoons
Yield: Approximately 30 cookies
Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven for 15 minutes at 375F/190C. Grease (use shortening/butter/non-stick spray) the baking sheets and keep it aside.

2. Whip the EnerG egg replacer powder with warm water in a blender until it’s smooth and frothy.

3. In a large bowl combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix well.

4. Drop by spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

March 03, 2010
22:24
Majjiga Pulusu - Yogurt Based Stew
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Majjiga Pulusu - Yogurt Based StewHave you ever had a feeling that you tell something out loud and the next thing you know it get jinxed, it happens to me quite a bit, I just mentioned it was spring like few days ago and boy did I jinx it bad, its been pouring and has been really cold, can't believe it's March and we still have this cold weather, I am seriously not a cold person !!.

Majjiga( Yogurt) pulusu was something that was made in our home when there were no vegetables to cook, seriously this is so easy that mom would make it right before we would sat on dining table.
I love Majjiga pulusu, it tastes really good if yogurt is a day or two old, since it gets a little sour.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup Yogurt/Perugu ( Thick yogurt)
1/2 cup Besan (senaga pindi)
1/2 Red onion cut into small cubes

For seasoning
1 tbsp oil/ghee
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp jeera
1-2 tbsp ajwain (vamu)
2-3 red chilies
few curry leaves
and salt according to taste.

Process
1. Whisk yogurt and besan well till they mix without any lumps.
2. Place the above on a stove and allow it to cook for 5-6 minutes, till the raw smell of besan is gone.
3. Add salt and haldi( tumeric) and mix well.
4. In a separate pan add oil/ghee and all the seasoning ingredients, when mustard seeds start to splutter add this to the cooked yogurt and mix well.
5. Allow to cook for a minute or two.
6. Remove from heat and add raw onions.

Serve hot with rice, tastes heavenly !!

10:23
Yogurt Rice Flour Roti
» ‎ Talimpu

Challa Rotti. This is a very simple and easy rotti made with rice flour and yogurt. Rice flour is mixed with enough yogurt along with chopped onion, green chiles and cumin seeds. The prepared soft dough is spread on flat pan into thick rotti and fried till its golden brown on both sides. This challa roti [...]

6:55
Khajur Imli – Sweet Chutney for Chaat
» ‎ Sailus Food

Date Tamarind – Sweet Chutney with Pani Puri
Sweet chutney is an essential component of Chaat, all varieties of Chaat including Pani Puri, Bhel Puri, Masala Puri and Samosa. Just a dash of this stunning sweet-tart condiment spread over Chaat, enhances the flavor by leaps and bounds, making it a key factor for a complete Chaat experience. This zesty sweet and tangy dip recipe calls for the use of tamarind, dates, jaggery and roasted cumin powder.
,
Khajur Imli ki (Sweet) Chutney Recipe
Prep & Cooking: 45 mts
.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup grated jaggery (adjust)
10-12 dates
small orange sized tamarind (de-seeded)
3/4 tsp chilli pwd
1/2 tsp saunf pwd (optional)
1 tsp roasted cumin pwd
water as required
salt to taste
1 Soak tamarind in 2 cups of warm water for 5 mts. Heat a heavy bottomed vessel, add the tamarind along with the water and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and cool.
2 Once cool, grind this tamarind mixture along with dates to a fine paste, adding very little water. Strain through a sieve and pour this tamarind-date paste back into the heavy bottomed vessel.
3 Cook on slow to medium flame for 2-3 mts. Add the grated jaggery and allow it to melt and blend well with the tamarind date mix. Continue to cook till it becomes a thick pouring consistency, approx 15-18 mts.
4 Add chilli pwd, cumin pwd, saunf pwd and salt to taste and combine. Turn off heat. Even if the chutney is thick, its fine. Once cool, refrigerate and use as required.
Note:
When required, take few tbsps of chutney, add little water to dilute it to the consistency of your choice. The sweet chutney can be refrigerated and has a shelf life of 2-3 months.
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5:38
An Education From Stalks
» ‎ when my soup came alive

We all know that a cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with education, right?

"Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education."

So here's a lot of education for you, about four cups of the stalks.

Waste not, want not, we say. Waste I didn't, but would I want it?

As it turned out, (a resounding) YES!

The recipe is from here. The measurements are mine.

Cauliflower stalks, chopped up: 4-5 cups
Jeera/Cumin seed: 1 tsp
Asafoetida, a pinch
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder: 3/4 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Amchoor/dried mango powder: 1 tsp
Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
Oil: 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves: To garnish

Heat the oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When they change color, add the asafoetida.

Now add the chopped up stalk, salt and all the spices except the amchoor and garam masala. Mix well.

Cook covered on low heat till stalk turns tender.
(When it felt like this was taking ages, I transferred it to a pressure cooker and pressure cooked it for three whistles with half a cup of water.)

When the pressure falls, open the pressure cooker and add the amchoor and the garam masala. Mix well and simmer till any residual water evaporates. Garnish with the coriander.

This cauliflower fed us for three days. Call it kima (mince) or upma, here's another thing I made with it.

The stalks are off to Susan who's hosting Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging this week, now administered by Haalo.

Weekend Herb Blogging Cauliflower stalks Vegan This feed contains copyrighted photos and text from http://www.whenmysoupcamealive.blogspot.com. If you are not reading this material in a feeds aggregator or by e-mail subscription, the site you are viewing may be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact srablog (at) gmail (dot) com.

March 02, 2010
21:30
Rice Sevai - A Potluck Dish
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

I learnt about rice sevai in Bangalore, folks from Bangalore know how popular Darshani's and Vihar's are , seriously good food and very very affordable. Our favorite was Adiga's in Gandhibazar, hmm their food was mouth watering and one of their specialities was rice sevai. It was a favorite of ours.This is my usual dish to make when I have a potluck, seriously its so easy and can be made for any number of people with little or no effort, you can prepare a part of it and keep it ready and just toss in rice sevai on the day of the party. Tastes really good.

Ingredients
2 cups of rice sevai ( Usually available as dragon brand in Indian grocery stores)
Hot boiled water to soak rice sevai
1 cup of mixed vegetables ( beans, peas, soy beans, corn)
1 red onion cut finely
1 potato peel and cubed
2 tbsp ginger
1 green chili cut finely
10-15 curry leaves
handful of cashew nuts/peanuts
10 curry leaves
1 tbsp Jeera
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp haldi
Juice of 1 big lemon
coriander leaves

Process
1. Boil water and when boiled add this to rice sevai and keep it closed for 2 minutes.make sure rice sevai is completely covered with boiling water.
2. In a large pan take a tbsp of oil when hot add jeera,urad, mustard seeds, g.chiles, curry leaves,cashew nuts, onion, potato and all frozen vegetables.
3. Add haldi and salt and mix well.
4. add a little bit of water to cook potatoes, allow it cook for few minutes. Remove from heat and store separately.
5. Drain sevai and remove all excess water
6. Now add this to the vegetable mixture and toss well, and cook for few minutes again on the stove
7. Remove from flame and add lemon juice and generous amount of coriander and mix well.

Serve hot with sambar and coconut chutney. This is very light and does not make you feel stuffed.

20:31
Fennel Farfalle ~ India Inspired
» ‎ Mahanandi

Fresh fennel not only tastes great, on research I found that fresh fennel is low in calories, contains beta carotene and foliate. It is good for digestion and has a calming effect on the stomach. All the above makes fresh fennel a power food in my food dictionary. Needless to say I am enjoying being [...]

16:45
Aloo Mater Tikkis Recipe ~ Potato Peas Patty Recipe Step by Step
» ‎ Cooking 4 all Seasons

I never realized so many things can happen almost at the same time. One moment you are overjoyed, the next moment upset over illness.
This is what happens when you are high or rather loose track of events. Saturday was full of spirits as I was trying to make 5 different dishes for the book, only to know kids will be back by 1 pm. You know how time flies right. And the phone never stopped ringing. Hubby dear was most amused knowing so many friends called in to wish me. While most of them were my childhood friends, it pleased me no end to realize how many wonderful friends blogging got me. I was really touched with those lovely 4 blogger friends who called me in to wish me.
After the crazy cooking, managed to click some pictures. I was really happy that the day was productive. Konda had planned for some gala birthday party. I refused to let her invite elders, saying I no longer feel like a teenage gushing to celebrate birthdays. When finally it was over, we went out for dinner and a movie in the open air. But when we came back home we saw that Peddu was not keeping well. He threw up whatever he ate which was only a cake. Sunday was spent washing up everything, finally we had to take him to hospital. Thank God, he is doing fine today. Still we didn't send him to school, and Chinnu missed him so much at school, when I called him in the morning.
Missing out on work the past two days, I really had so much to do. So I thought I will share this simple aloo matar tikkis that I made for the burgers. This recipe is something like you just make with whatever you have.
Aloo Matter Tikkis Recipe

Step by Step for those of you who wanted to learn!

Boil Potatoes, peas and Carrot till tender

In a pan saute onions ginger garlic paste, coriander leaves, green chili paste till done. then add boiled vegetables.

After the onions are browned, remove to a bowl and allow to cool. Then add about 1 tbsp of All purpose flour!  Mix everything together.
Then make big balls and flatten over your left palm.
   Continue with the rest of the mix

You will have like this ready
Then make a batter of Maida/ All purpose flour with water. The batter should be quite thick. Then have bread crumbs ready.First dip the Alo batter in the Maida batter, then press over the bread crumbs till you have the tikkis are rolled up like this!

Flatten using your palms

Heat a non stick pan with little oil, place the tikkis over it.


Simmer till each side is well done. It will turn colour like this.

When you have the colour like the above you are done!

As I said this is a very simple recipe, but anybody wants in exact proportions, just leave comment, else I will assume the pictures are self explanatory!

Have a good week ahead.

10:23
Carrot Curry with Nuts
» ‎ Talimpu

Carrot Curry with Nuts. Carrot is paired with peanuts and almonds for a fresh and crunchy taste. Carrots are chopped up and cooked in tempered oil till soft. Coarsely ground peanuts and almonds is added to the cooked carrots along with other seasonings and herbs. This carrot preparation tastes good with rice or roti. Makes: around 3 [...]

March 01, 2010
19:48
Captured Moments- Mount Abu
» ‎ N e i v e d y a m

Hi Friends!

Its been a long time since I visited my own blog!! We have moved to India and slowly in the process of settling here.
Things have been pretty hectic with the moving and kids.

In between all this, we had a short trip to Northern India. The pictures are of Mount Abu, Rajasthan. I captured some beautiful moments with my Son. These pictures were taken at a place called Sunset point. The view was too good, I cannot describe in words.

That's my finger :)

My Son's Hands! I was asking him to keep his hands like that and he did not understand what mommy was up to:)

My Son Jai.

Lake viewI want to share many more pictures with you so will be back soon. In between do let me know how you like these.

Neivedyam is a food blog full of innovative recipes.I wanted a traditional and ethnic name for my blog, which will represent not only food, but also the Indian culture and values in just a word and so was the name "NEIVEDYAM" born. Couldn’t find anything better. NEIVEDYAM means "Prasadam" the sacred Food offered to God. This blog has state-wise specialities and festive foods from India and International fusions too.

10:52
Rice Flour Rings
» ‎ Talimpu

Chitti Chegodilu. Rice flour rings or chitti chegodilu as they are called in telugu is a deep fried snack made with maida and rice flour. A dough is prepared with these flours and made into small rings. The rings are then deep fried until crisp and golden brown in color. Rice flour rings are usually served [...]

6:37
Indian Street Food ~ Pani Puri (Gol Gappa)
» ‎ Sailus Food

Puchka aka Pani Puri
March will be ‘Indian Street Food’ special on ‘Sailu’s Kitchen’ where I will be featuring Chaat and snack recipes. I will try to cover as many recipes as I can prepare during this month. Chaats are India’s National Snacks like hot dogs or burgers are to America or Tacos are to Mexico. The innumerable Chaats and snacks showcase a myriad of flavors and textures – sweet, salty, tangy, spicy, soft and crispy, that epitomize Indian food.
Today, I’m blogging a tongue tickling crowd pleaser, popular all over the country. It is known by different names based on the region – Gol Gappa (East India), Pani Puri (West & South India) or Puchka (North India). This street food sensation is popular among all age groups as it adds a flavorful punch to the palate. Each region or home have their own version of Pani Puri, in terms of fillings.
Puri
Basically pani puris are small balls made of flour and semolina, rolled out into very small puris and deep fried to a golden shade, cooled and stored in air tight containers. The hollow puri is slightly crushed on the top and filled with a little each of mashed potatoes, chopped onions and sweet chutney, then dipped in a chilled mint flavored tangy water, and eaten as a whole, in one mouthful. As you savor the pani puri, you can literally feel the explosion of flavors in your mouth, an assortment of crisp, tangy, spicy tastes.
Puri/Puchka Recipe
Prep: 10 mts, Sitting time: 30, Cooking time: 20-30 mts
Serves 8-10 persons
Cuisine: Indian
Source: Recipe files
.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup maida/all-purpose flour
1/2 cup urad dal flour
1 1/2 cups ravva/semolina/sooji
little less than 1/4 cup atta/whole wheat flour
1 tbsp oil or ghee
salt to taste
water for kneading
oil for deep frying
1 Combine all the mentioned ingredients (except oil for deep frying), adding water slowly and make a dough. Leave aside covered with damp cloth for 30 mts.
2 While the dough is resting. (i) Prepare the pani (water) required for the puchka. (ii) Boil two potatoes, peel and mash. Combine the mashed potato with little salt and red chilli pwd and keep aside until use. (iii) Chop a large onion finely and keep aside until use.
3 Knead the dough again. Pinch off some dough and make very small balls. Roll out small thin rotis, using the rim of a container to cut out the round shape.
4 Heat enough oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. It should be on medium high and once its hot, slide the roti into the hot oil and using the back of the ladle, press in the center and along the edges and you will find it will puff. Flip over and fry the other side till light golden brown. Don’t fry too much as it will turns too dark. Remove on to absorbent paper.
5 Cool and store in an air tight container and use when required.
Note: Ensure the oil is hot enough before frying the puri. If the oil is not hot enough, the roti will absorb a lot of oil. In case you do not have urad dal flour, replace it with 1/2 cup of maida. If made ahead of time, lightly warm in oven for 3-4 mts before serving. Instead of water, you can use soda water (fizz) to make the dough. Ensure to roll out very think puris. And use very fine sooji.
Pani Puri
Pani (Puri) Recipe
Preparation: 10 mts
Cuisine: Indian
.
Ingredients:
6-7 cups cold water
1/2 cup packed pudina leaves
1 green chilli
small piece ginger
1 tbsp amchur pwd
1/2 tsp chaat masala pwd
1/4 tsp cumin pwd
pinch of black salt (optional)
fresh coriander leaves for garnish
salt to taste
1 Make a paste of mint leaves, green chilli and ginger and keep aside
2 Take a vessel, add the cold water in it, followed by the green mint paste and combine well.
3 Add cumin pwd, chaat masala pwd, amchur pwd, black salt, salt to taste. Garnish with coriander leaves. Chill in refrigerator till use.
Assembling Pani Puri:
Take a small puri in your palm and lightly press the top to make a hole in the puri. Stuff with a tsp of spiced mashed potato, 1/2 tsp of chopped onions, 1 tsp of sweet chutney, pour 2 tbsps of the prepared chilled mint pani and stuff the whole puchka into your mouth. Then savor the explosion of flavors.
Gol Gappa
Update: Due to heavy traffic, server crashed, hence the blog was not accessible. The issue has been fixed now and hopefully things will be smooth. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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6:03
Spring
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Though it's not yet spring, seems like one for sure .

4:39
Baking with Brown Rice – Round Up
» ‎ EgglessCooking

Hello friends, hope you are all doing great. Firstly I would like to apologize for taking off just like that. I didn’t think that my absence would be noticed until I started receiving emails and comments from fellow food bloggers and regular visitors. I really feel very blessed to know that there are so many people to care about me. Thank you very much friends for your concern and wishes. A couple of things are happening at my end (everything good though) not allowing me to blog regularly and answer your emails immediately. I think it’s going to take some more time for me to get back to the routine here. I sincerely hope that you will still remember me and extend your support to the blog once I come back.

Now to the round up. This is the first time that I have not even posted a single recipe for the whole grain baking event. I did bake some delicious chocolate chip cookies using brown rice flour but didn’t get the time to write the post. Hopefully I will get to that in a couple of days and include it in the round up later. I didn’t want to keep the round up pending just to include my recipe, so here it is. Thank you my dear food blogging friends for whipping up so many mouthwatering dishes with brown rice.

Brown Rice Bar Recipes
Champa's Chewy Granola Bars

Champa's Vegan Banana Brownies

Brown Rice Cookie Recipes
Champa's Almond Coconut Cookies

Kizzy's Eggless Persian Cookies

Priya's Brown Rice Chocolate Cookies

Priya's Savory Peanut Butter Cookies

Priya's Vegan Chocolate Cookies

Madhuram's Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown Rice Cracker Recipes
Priya's Onion Sesame Crackers

Priya's Vegan Rice & Oats Crackers

Sadhana/Muskaan's Multigrain Crackers

Brown Rice Quick Bread Recipes
Champa's Orange Cranberry Muffins

Kizzy's Eggless Bluberry Muffins

Latha's Baked Brown Rice Appam

Priya's Multigrain Carrot Muffins

Sadhana & Muskaan's Multigrain Bread

Sadhana & Muskaan's Multigrain Pineapple Muffins

Sweatha's Gluten Free and Fat Free Banana Bread

Sadhana & Muskaan's Multigrain Chocolate Muffins

Other Brown Rice Recipes
Priya's Brown Rice Patties (Baked)

Priya's Multigrain Chocolate Cake

Winner

Congratulations Latha! Send me your mailing address and phone number using the contact form to claim your prize!

3:40
JFI: Fennel Roundup
» ‎ Siri's Corner

February 28, 2010
11:35
Bottle Gourd Chutney (Sorakaaya Pachadi)
» ‎ Essence Of Andhra
This is very simple chutney with limited ingredients that can be done easily in a short period of time.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Bottle Gourd Pieces (without skin)
- 10 Green Chilies
- ½ tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Sambar Powder
- Few Curry Leaves
- ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
- A pinch of Turmeric Powder
- A pinch of Asafetida (Inguva, Hing)
- 1 tbsp Oil
- Salt
Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan and add bottle gourd pieces + cumin seeds + green chilies and sauté well for 5 minutes. Then add curry leaves + turmeric + asafetida + sambar powder and mix well. Keep the mixture on medium low flame for 5 more minutes and turn off.

Keep aside to cool. When the contents cool down, blend them into a fine paste by adding lemon juice and salt. Add very little water if needed.
That’s it!! Great tasting chutney is ready!! Enjoy this yummy chutney with either rice or chapathis.

February 27, 2010
21:31
Show Me Some Love, Its My Birthday !!!
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Yay, My blog turns three I could not have been happier and proud. I could not have had this milestone if not for my dear readers, family and friends and for their constant encouragement and support. So from the bottom of my heart thank you, thank you and thank you.

Three years ago when I started my blog never thought it would have a life of more than few days but here I am still going strong and enjoying every moment of it. My blog has helped me in more ways than I can imagine, got me connected to people who are passionate about what they do be it technology, food, photography, business etc , its sheer joy that I experience when I read them. Made few good friends by getting to know them through blogging. Blogging also made me realize the importance of knowing source of what I eat and be conscious of quality above quantity. Blogging has become my creative outlet and a way to wind down a hectic day. Above all, it has become a personal journal, which I can always look back at.

San few occasional comments like “She blogs cause she has nothing better to do “, I have had a blast last three years and hope I keep the same tempo for years to come. Only regret I just do not find time to change my blog layout, a blog makeover is way overdue. Hopefully before I turn four.

I am also super happy to celebrate my birthday on the festival of colors Holi. Happy Holi everyone.

Now wish me Happy Birthday and Good Luck will ya!!

10:56
Masala Puffed Rice Mixture
» ‎ Talimpu

Bajji Pappu. Puffed rice mixture is quite famous chaat all over India. In this Andhra version of puffed rice mixture / maramarala mixture, puffed rice is tossed with a cooked spicy yellow peas gravy along with freshly chopped onion and tomato for freshness and crunch. The puffed rice chaat is spicy and mouthwatering and served instantly. Makes: [...]

7:40
Egg Masala Curry
» ‎ Sailus Food

Egg Masala Curry with Chicken Pulao
I do not follow any standard (masala) recipe while preparing an egg curry. Each time I venture to prepare an egg curry, to serve as a side with rice or pulao, I tend to tweak an old favorite and experiment with spices. A friend visited us recently and I had prepared this egg masala which came out a winner. Despite all of the mesmerizing flavors of egg masala, the key factor that really put it over the edge was the ground paste made from ordinary ingredients like poppy seeds, coconut and curry leaves! Addictive taste, warming and satisfying! Serve with rotis, rice or pulao.
Egg Masala Recipe
Prep & Cooking: 40 mts
Serves 4 persons
.
Ingredients:
3-4 boiled eggs
2 cloves,
1/2″ cinnamon
1 elaichi
1/4 star anise
pinch of mustard seeds
1 large onions, chopped
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 large tomato, blanched, peeled and pureed
1 tsp coriander pwd
1 tsp red chilli pwd
pinch of garam masala pwd
salt to taste
2 tbsps oil
coriander leaves for garnish
Make paste:
little less than 1/4 tsp cumin seeds, lightly roast for 2 mts
2 tbsps fresh coconut
3/4 tsp khus khus, soak in a tbsp of water for 15 mts
2-3 cashew nuts
4-5 curry leaves
1 green chilli
1 Heat 2 tsps oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, add the boiled eggs and saute of low to medium flame for 2-3 mts. Add a pinch of turmeric pwd and combine. Remove and keep aside.
2 In the same pan, add the remaining oil and add the cloves, cinnamon, elaichi and star anise and mustard seeds and saute for a few secs till the mustard splutters. Add chopped onions and saute till onions turn transparent. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 4 mts.
3 Add chilli pwd, coriander pwd and salt and combine. Add the tomato puree and cook for 3-4 mts.
4 Add the ground paste and cook for 8-10 mts. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water and bring to boil.
5 Add the boiled eggs and let it cook in this masala for 7-8 mts on medium flame. Reduce flame and cook till you get the desired curry consistency.
6 Add garam masala pwd and combine. Garnish with coriander leaves. Turn off heat and serve hot with rotis or white rice.
Egg Curryaddthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailusfood.com%2F2010%2F02%2F27%2Fegg-masala-curry%2F'; addthis_title = 'Egg+Masala+Curry'; addthis_pub = 'sailajag';

0:07
Peas Stuffed Indian Flatbread ~ Mattar Paratha Recipe two ways, Step by Step Recipe!
» ‎ Cooking 4 all Seasons

Sometimes you follow traditions because you have always followed them. It's got to do more with the fact that you feel nice knowing everything is same and nice. Though change is the only constant thing in life, you feel good assuming things are the same. How I wish it was so!

Though I decide I should never remember this day or make a big thing of it, Konda has been reminding me since the month beginning. Infact she is paining something for me, which is partial showed to me too. But Hubby dear has given me strict orders to act surprised and happy on receiving it. I tell him that I can hardly know how to act surprised, happy that I am.

Coming back to traditions, I have unwittingly created one by deciding that stuffed parathas will be made around this time. Infact true to the thought I searched through my Index, which by the way still needs to be updated, for one that I have not talked about. Going up and down, struck me something pretty in green is missing. I remembered Peas Paratha from all those years ago.
I remembered that period after I completed my under graduation and before I started working, Best are some time never spoken about, but still those memories come back and you have no control on the thoughts that flash across. I remember that time quite well, as I remember every single other day as well. During that time, our neighbours had two girls. The elder one was a medico and was away, while the younger was still in school. The younger one R, was with whom I spent most times. And Peas Paratha reminds me of her Aunty, her mom.
R was mostly into North Indian food, wouldn't like anything else. During the peas season when Aunty was wondering what to do with that, we decided we will make a paratha out of it. So it was. And it was such a hit that we only had Peas paratha for a long long time to come.
But the fact is, its been long time since I made this. And wondering which one to make, Peas paratha came to mind. How nice! Since I had fresh peas on hand, it was very easy to plan to make this. But instead of dinner, I made it for breakfast on the day that was going to be last one of the year.

I make it two ways. One blended with the dough, the other stuffed. You can add the same masala for both ways. Though I changed a bit to differentiate them.
Peas Stuffed Indian Flatbread ~ Mattar Paratha Recipe

Preparation Time : 15 mins
Cooking Time : 15 mins
Cuisine : North Indian

Peas Stuffed Paratha

For the dough

Wheat flour 1 cup
Salt to taste
Water to knead

For the Peas Stuffing.

Cooked Peas -1 cup, pureed
Green Chili paste - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Amchor - 1/4 tsp

Method to prepare:

Knead the flour to a soft pliable dough and keep aside.

If you are using fresh peas, puree it to smooth paste.
Fry in a pan along with salt and all the other ingredients till you get a dry paste. Allow it to cool and make into small balls. Pinch a lemon size balls, press the sides of the ball to thinner and place the peas stuffing in the middle, bring the outer layer towards the center and enclose the stuffing.
Dust the balls with flour and roll out into disc equal on all sides.

Heat a pan and cook on both sides by applying oil.
Peas Paratha Recipe

For the dough

Wheat flour 1 cup
Salt to taste
Water to knead

For the Peas Masala

Cooked Peas -1 cup, pureed
Onions -1 small
Green Chili paste - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

Method to prepare

In a wide mouthed bowl, take the flour, pureed peas, onions, all the spice masala along with salt. Knead to a soft dough. Let it rest for 10 mins
Pinch out equal balls of dough, roll out by dusting in flour into disc of 6 diameter. Once the tawa is hot, grease with oil, cook these parathas on high flame, making sure you don't burn it.

Cook on both sides with a tsp of oil. When you see golden spots on top, the parathas are done.

Serve with curds/yogurt and pickles!

Have a great weekend!

February 26, 2010
22:42
Aloo Paratha's
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Reposting one of my blog favorites Aloo paratha, Its been pouring here and this recipe comes at perfect time, hot parata's and pouring rain make a good combo. Have a great weekend !!!

Ingredients makes about 6-8 parathas
5 small Potatoes peeled and boiled
1 tbsp kasoori methi
1/2 tbsp haldi
1 tbsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp corriander powder
1/2 tbsp red chilli powder
a pinch of amchoor (dry mango powder)
handfull of finely chopped fresh corriander leaves
and salt according to taste
For Roti1 cup atta (flour)
salt according to taste
water for kneading
oil for shallow frying (optional)
Process For filling
1. Mix in boiled aloo and all the dry ingredients and mix well.
For Paratha
1.Mix all ingredients except water. Add a little at a time and form a soft dough. try to make this at least 30 minutes before using.
2.Always keep covered with a moist cloth, and see that the cloth is kept moist
For stuffing paratha1.Roll a thick roti and place a small portion of the filling in the center
2.bring all the edges of the roti together and make sure that the entire filling is covered
3.and then roll into a nice round shape dusting with flour as required
4. heat a griddle/tava and place Paratha
5.let it cook on one side and then repeat on the other side
6.Add a tspn of oil to paratha and let it fry till it gets golden brown.
Serve hot with raita.

13:49
Baked Veggie Pasta
» ‎ Cook's Hideout
This is my quick & easy version of vegetable lasagna. I was craving for lasagna this past weekend, but realized I didn’t have any lasagna noodles on hand. So I followed Rachael Ray’s route of making regular pasta but lasagnafy it with all the lasagna fixings (except for the lasagna and layering of course).

Great for weeknight meals (it doesn’t make for a quick meal, but at least it is not as involved as making real lasagna). Recipe is a combination of recipes I found online.
Ingredients:
Short Pasta – 1lb. (I used tri color rotini-spirals)
Asparagus – 1 bunch, chopped into 1” pieces
Carrots – 2 medium, chopped
Broccoli florets – 2 cups
Onion – 1 small, chopped
Tomato Puree – 1cup
Basil – 2-3tbsp, finely chopped (I used dried Herbes de Provence)
Veggie Broth – 2 cups, divided
Milk – 1 cup (I used whole milk, but low-fat will work fine)
All purpose Flour – 2tbsp
Nutmeg – ½ tsp, grated
Red chili flakes – ½ tsp
Garlic – 3 cloves, divided
Parmesan cheese – ¼ cup
Fontina Cheese – 1 cup, grated
Salt & pepper – to taste

Method:
- Preheat oven to 450ºF.
- Cook pasta according to package directions to al-dente and keep aside until ready to use.
- While pasta cooks make the veggie sauce – Heat 2tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan; add chili flakes and toast for 30 seconds. Add 2 cloves finely chopped garlic and onion and sauté till lightly browned.
- Next add all the chopped veggies; cook till the veggies are ¾th cooked. Add tomato puree, herbs, salt and 1 cup veggie broth. Cover and cook till the veggies are completely cooked through.
- In the meantime make the cheese sauce: Take the remaining 1 cup broth and milk along with the remaining garlic (crushed) in a microwaveable container. Microwave for 2 – 3 minutes or until the mixture is hot. Discard the garlic clove.
- In a small sauce pan, melt 2tbsp butter & 1 tbsp olive oil, add the flour and toast until the flour loses its raw smell, about 2-3 minutes. Carefully pour the milk mixture in the saucepan and whisk thoroughly to remove any lumps. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer until it thickens a little bit. Season with salt and pepper and grated nutmeg. Finally add grated cheese, mix well and keep aside.
- To bake: Mix pasta with the veggie sauce and pour that mixture into a baking dish. Top it with the cheese sauce and grated fontina cheese. Bake until the cheese is browned and bubbly, about 10-15 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes, before digging in..

13:43
Fennel Sandwich ~ India Inspired
» ‎ Mahanandi

Fennel seeds need no introduction to this Bharath Bawarchi but when it comes to fresh fennel, I always wondered how they would taste. Thanks to Jihva Fennel, I found out that fresh fennel has a light licorice flavor which becomes more delicate when cooked. For my first try, I placed the fresh fennel in a [...]

10:25
Carrot Koshimbir
» ‎ Talimpu

Carrot Koshumbir. Kosambari is a salad like dish. Carrot kosambari is prepared with freshly grated carrots and coconut. Soaked moong dal is also added to the salad. The tossed salad is tempered with mustard seeds and green chiles. Carrot koshimbir is served fresh as a salad. Makes: around 2 1/2 Cups of Carrot Koshimbir. Ingredients: Carrots 3 – 4 Moong [...]

6:47
Palakura Vepudu ~ Spinach Stir fry (2)
» ‎ Sailus Food

Palakura Vepudu with Potato Beans Stir fry and Pappu Pulusu
A favorite spinach stir fry prepared with just a handful of ingredients to bring out a delicious amalgamation of flavors. A mildly spiced dish with garlicky overtones. Goes well with rotis and rice. Check out another version of Spinach stir fry that I blogged a year ago.
Paalakura Vepudu Recipe
Prep & Cooking: 20-25 mts
Serves: 3-4
Cuisine: Andhra
.
Ingredients:
2 big bunches fresh spinach leaves (washed thoroughly and blanched in hot water for 3 mts)
1 onion, finely chopped
pinch turmeric pwd
pinch roasted methi pwd
pinch cumin pwd
1/2 tsp coriander pwd
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli pwd
salt to taste
1 1/2 tbsps olive oil
For poppu/tadka/tempering:
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 garlic flakes, crushed
5-6 curry leaves
1 Chop the blanched spinach and keep aside.
2 Heat olive oil, add the cumin seeds and once they splutter, add the garlic flakes and curry leaves and saute for few secs.
3 Add the onions and saute till transparent, approx 4-5 mts. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for 4 mts. Add salt, turmeric pwd, roasted methi pwd, coriander pwd, cumin pwd and red chilli pwd and combine well.
4 Add the chopped spinach leaves and saute for 8-10 mts. Turn off heat. Serve hot with rice.
Note:
Use the left over blanched spinach water to prepare roti dough.
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailusfood.com%2F2010%2F02%2F26%2Fpalakura-vepudu-spinach-stir-fry-2%2F'; addthis_title = 'Palakura+Vepudu+%7E+Spinach+Stir+fry+%282%29'; addthis_pub = 'sailajag';

February 25, 2010
23:55
Moong Dal Vada Sabji
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Moong Dal Vada Sabji

Had one of the most hectic week in the year so far, seems like I still have a ton on things in my to-do list and very little time, anyways that's life. On a completely different topic I was amazed at how many people had their FB and twitter status mentioning that they found god , a 5.6 footer from Mumbai and plays right hand, one sport that makes India stand. I am not a huge fan of cricket, I always watched it for the glamor and for the stars in the box, but my brothers were such huge fanatics of the sport.
Coming to today's recipe I had few home made moong dal vada's (minapappu vadiyalu)from back home, sometimes I get stuff and wonder why the heck did I get it in the first place and mostly likely it goes into the garbage, luck this time came up with a recipe to make sabji. I was so amazed by the taste and for a change my kids loved it too. I always though the vada's would get soggy but no they have held their shape even after soaking all the tamarind juice and flavor.

Ingredients
1 Cup Moong dal vada ( minappapu vadiyalu)
1 small onion sliced thinly
1 small tomato cubed
1 Green chili (adjust accordingly)
Tamarind size of a quarter
Salt
Haldi
3-4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp Rice flour
For Thadka
1 tbsp Urad dal
1 tbsp Jeera
1 tbsp Mustard seeds
½ tbsp hing
8-10 curry leaves
2-3 red chilies

Process
1. Heat few table spoons of oil in a pan, when hot add vada's and fry till they turn golden brown approximately 5-6 minutes and keep aside.
1. Now in the same pan heat 2 tbsp of oil , when hot add all the ingredients for tadhka, when mustard seeds start to splutter
2. Add onions, tomato, G.chili, salt and haldi and saute for a minute or two.
3. Now add 2 cups water, add tamarind ,moong dal vada's allow it to boil until vada's turn for about 3 minutes.
4. Now add sugar and check for salt and adjust accordingly
5. Allow to boil for 3-4 minutes and remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice and tastes well the next day too.

15:03
Basic White Sauce Recipe!
» ‎ Cooking 4 all Seasons

Imagine you decide to convert yourself into Vegetarians and that's then the world decides to create all those delectable cakes, burgers and what not!

I tell you even in India being a pure Vegetarian is tough. I meant sometimes it becomes very difficult to get pure Veg dishes even here when you happen to be eating out in a non veg hotel, and you are never sure! And then there are these tempting dishes that come being made with eggs like Burgers Pizzas etc!
I emphasis on pure because Dad says that there can't be a status of pure vegetarianism, it's either you are or you are not! I remind him gently that some include eggs in vegetarian diet. And this has caused me being ever precarious to check the labels or ask couple of times to confirm if the dish offered contains eggs in disguise or not.

Some of my friends who are vegetarians eat cakes and other dishes that has eggs in them. When I ask they say it is fine with them since they don't see the egg. But for the bane of me, I haven't been able to accept that. So result is I have never tasted those sinful desserts.

Necessity is the mother of creation, somebody said right! I finally resorted to finding out ways to taste those temptations. Since I don't know how that original dish should taste, I conclude that whatever I created substituting the eggs, are the best created dishes! Talk about inflated egos
Thanks to all those wonderful people who enjoy my creations and ascertain that these resemble the original in taste and look!

Coming to the recipe for today, I know many of you must be making this White sauce regularly. This was one of those first recipes I started making trying to replace egg based recipes. Works so very well all the time.

I use this for Burgers, Pastas. Previously I used to make this and store.
Basic Recipe for White Sauce:

All purpose flour / Maida - 1 cup
Milk - 3 cups
Butter 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Method to prepare:

Mix the flour with milk, add salt and pepper. The mix should be watery and without lumps.

Melt butter in a non stick pan. Slowly add this flour mix and whisk briskly to ensure the liquid doesn't get solidified.
Keep stirring till the sauce reaches a bit thickness. It should not become very thick as the sauce tends to become very thick once it is cooled.
At times the sauce tends to clog, you can whisk with a masher, to get a smooth paste.

When the sauce starts boiling remove, and allow it to cool before storing it in a bowl.

Notes: As I was busy with the camera, I almost allowed the liquid to get settled. Because of that I ended up getting lumps in the sauce.

Once it cooled down, I pulsed it couple of times to get a smooth thick sauce.
I only added salt and pepper, but you can add as many other spices you want.

It really gave such a wonderful taste to the burgers!

Check for the Vegetarian Burger Step by Step Recipe, Indian Style at Beyond Curries, which happens to be the 100th post!!!

10:23
Poppy Seeds Powder
» ‎ Talimpu

Gasa Gasala Podi. Poppy seeds powder is a spice powder usually accompanied with steamed rice or with idly, dosa etc. It is prepared by first dry roasting the poppy seeds until light golden color. Then, grind them with other roasted ingredients and spices for a fine poppy seeds powder. Makes: around 3/4 Cup of Poppy Seeds Powder. Ingredients: Poppy [...]

7:03
Beans Pakodi Kura ~ French beans Fritters Stir fry
» ‎ Sailus Food

Beans Pakodi Kura
Another of Amma’s speciality dishes. Similar to Crispy Dondakaya (Ivy Gourd/Tindora), that was appreciated by many of you dear readers, but with a slight variation. Makes for a very good side with rice and rasam or sambar. The beans pakodi are delicious on their own, but when tossed in the curry leaves infused seasoning, intensifies the flavor making it addictive. I added a dash of coriander powder towards the end for extra oomph.
Beans Pakodi Kura Recipe
Recipe Source: Amma
Prep: 30 mts
Serves: 4 persons
.
Ingredients:
250 gms /1/4 kg French beans, cut into 1/2″ pieces
oil for deep frying
For coating/batter:
1 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsps besan/chick pea flour/sengapindi
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
1/4 tsp red chilli pwd
Seasoning/Tadka/Poppu:
2-3 tsps oil
1/2 tsp finely minced ginger
3/4 tsp finely minced garlic
2 green chillis, finely chopped
2 sprigs fresh curry leaves
1 small onion, finely chopped
pinch of red chilli pwd
3/4 tsp coriander pwd
1 Wash french beans, nip the ends. Slice them into 1/2″ pieces.
2 Heat oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. As the oil is heating, get the coating ready. In a vessel, add chopped french beans, corn flour, besan, salt, ginger garlic paste and chilli pwd. Sprinkle little water and combine well such that french beans are just coated, lightly. Very little water is required.
3 Once the oil is hot, reduce heat to medium high flame, slowly drop the batter coated french beans into the oil and deep fry to a golden shade. Remove onto absorbent paper.
4 Heat a vessel, drizzle some oil, add ginger and garlic and saute for a half a mt. Add the green chillis and curry leaves and fry for few secs till the aroma emanates the kitchen. Add the chopped onions and saute on high for 3-4 mts. Add chilli pwd and combine well. Add the crispy french beans and stir fry on high for a mt. Add coriander pwd and toss. Serve hot as a snack or a vepudu with rice and rasam/sambar.
French Beans Pakoda Stir Fryaddthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailusfood.com%2F2010%2F02%2F25%2Fbeans-pakodi-kura-french-beans-fritters-stir-fry%2F'; addthis_title = 'Beans+Pakodi+Kura+%7E+French+beans+Fritters+Stir+fry'; addthis_pub = 'sailajag';

6:42
Gangabayala Endu Mamidi Pappu/ Purslane leaves dal with Dried Mango Twist
» ‎ Amma Cheppindi

Gangabayala Endu Mamidi Pappu Dried Mango Slices or Amchur Ingredients: Kandi Pappu/ Toor Dal - 1 rice cup (wash it well)Chilli powder - 1 tspTurmeric - 1/2 tspWater - 2 and 1/2 rice cupsGangabayala Akku/ Purslane Leaves - 1 bunch (wash well, keep only thin stalk and leaves and chop) In a pressure cooker add toor dal, chilli powder, turmeric, water and 1 bunch chopped Purslane leaves, pressure

February 24, 2010
20:55
A Busy Busy Day
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

One of those days where you wished you had 48hrs. Stuck in loop on few things, hopefully I will see the end soon.

See you all tomorrow.

16:28
Mt Nacho
» ‎ when my soup came alive

We scaled its heights - and grimaced. I didn't really know what I was letting us in for when I ordered this starter. (Yes, it was an 'appetizer', not the main dish.) I thought it was a typical menu illustration where the picture has been magnified a hundredfold. It was, but that didn't mean the original was a rational size. I have a little more respect for menu illustrations now. Needless to say, our meal ended here.

(We had also ordered some corn and cheese poppers. They were only marbles, in comparison, and disappeared as soon as they appeared on our table.)

The dish itself underwhelmed, despite its overwhelming proportions. Beans in a hot cream sauce with some vegetables and lettuce swimming in it? Nah!

Want to try some brilliant (literally - look at the colour) potatoes? Here's my post on The Great Vega'n Vegetarian Project.

Eating out Humour Mexican NachosThis feed contains copyrighted photos and text from http://www.whenmysoupcamealive.blogspot.com. If you are not reading this material in a feeds aggregator or by e-mail subscription, the site you are viewing may be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact srablog (at) gmail (dot) com.

11:04
Mooli Paratha
» ‎ Talimpu

Mooli Paratha. Mooli paratha is a well known paratha made by stuffing wheat dough with grated daikon. White radish is grated and mixed with spices and herbs. A dough is prepared with just the wheat flour. The grated radish is stuffed into wheat dough and rolled into thick parathas. The mooli paratha is cooked on [...]

6:00
Food is Empowering!
» ‎ Mahanandi

There is a very important part of our daily life that we quite often take very casually or overlook very conveniently. That is “food”. We are made of what we eat. What we eat and how we eat dictate whether we thrive or survive. When I read about Indus Ladies call for entries to celebrate [...]

0:15
Mehandi Art Like You Have Never Seen Before
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

I have been a huge fan/follower of Darcy's Mehandi designs for a long time, it's about time I share my fondness with my readers. Darcy's creative and intricate designs are out of the world and beautiful. I can't wait for a chance to get my hands decorated by her and now for the best part she is right here in the bay area, specifically in Mission San Fransisco.

So for your next event be it a girls night out or a bridal ceremony think about having Darcy.
More information on Darcy and contact can be found here
Few image from her flickr stream below.
Click here to view her complete portfolio

All picture courtesy Darcy

February 23, 2010
10:13
Besan Bread Toast
» ‎ Talimpu

Besan Bread Toast. This is a simple and easy bread toast prepared with gram flour and yogurt. Besan and yogurt are mixed together along with crushed roasted peanuts and carsom seeds. This mixture is used as a bread spread and then the bread is toasted on a flat pan on both sides till its golden brown [...]

5:42
Methi Matar Malai
» ‎ Sailus Food

Methi Matar Malai
Farm fresh, Methi and Matar, are available in abundance in our Rythu bazaar (Farmer’s Market) at reasonable prices. The plump green peas and methi make a great combination with the rich familiar flavor of fresh cream that elevates this flavorful, creamy curry of North Indian origin. Black pepper and green chillis lend a savory note to this otherwise mildly sweet tasting curry that is modest in its appearance. A recipe that can be made ahead and works great for a get together or party. Makes for a good side with phulkas, rotis and Naan.
Farm fresh green peas
Methi Matar Malai Recipe
Recipe Source: My old recipe files
Prep & Cooking: 45 mts
Serves 4-5 persons
Cuisine: North Indian
.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup fresh green peas/pachi bataani/matar, boiled
1 1/2 cup packed fresh methi leaves
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, blanched, peel skin and chop
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black pepper pwd
1/4 cup low fat milk
1 tbsp malai/fresh cream
6-7 cashewnuts + 1 tsp poppy seeds, soak 2-3 tbsps milk for 15 mts and grind to paste
garam masala pwd (2 cloves, 1/2″ cinnamon, 1 cardamom)
salt to taste
1 1/2 tbsps oil or ghee
Make a paste:
1 small onion
4 green chillis
1″ ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 Add big pinch salt+big pinch sugar to the methi leaves along with half a cup of water and let it rest for 15 mts. Squeeze water from methi and keep aside.
2 Heat 2 tsps of oil in a vessel, add the methi leaves and saute of low to medium flame for 4 mts. Turn off heat and remove the methi leaves and keep aside.
3 In the same vessel, add the remaining oil, add the cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add the chopped onions and saute till the onions turn transparent. Add the ground paste and saute for 5 mts.
4 Add pepper pwd and combine. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 4 mts.
5 Add the boiled green peas and methi leaves saute for a mt. Add cashew nut and poppy seeds paste and and cook for 2 mts on medium flame. Reduce flame, add milk and cook on simmer for another 5-6 mts till the gravy thickens, stirring on a constant basis.
6 Add garam masala pwd and salt and combine well. Finally, add malai and combine well and turn off heat. Serve hot with rotis, paranthas or naan.
Homemade Naan with Methi Matar Malaiaddthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sailusfood.com%2F2010%2F02%2F23%2Fmethi-matar-malai%2F'; addthis_title = 'Methi+Matar+Malai'; addthis_pub = 'sailajag';

4:20
Pineapple Paayasam
» ‎ Essence Of Andhra
Yesterday was my hubby’s b’day. So I prepared this yummy payasam for the occasion. It tasted so good.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Pineapple pieces (I used fresh)
- ½ cup Vermicelli
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 cup Water
- 1 cup Sugar (can be increased if more sweetness is desired)
- 1 tsp Ghee
- Few Cashews, Cardamom Seeds and Raisins
- Few strands of Saffron
Preparation:

Add pineapple pieces and sugar to a blender and grind into a soft pulp. No need to add water. Keep aside.
Dry roast vermicelli until it turns into golden brown in color and keep aside.
Boil milk in a bowl or pan. When it starts boiling, pour the fried vermicelli and water. Mix well and allow cooking for some time until vermicelli becomes soft and cooked.
Finally pour pineapple pulp into the vermicelli mixture, mix well and turn off the flame after 2 minutes.
In a different pan, heat ghee and add cashews + cardamom seeds + raisins and sauté well until cashews become golden brown in color and raisins bubble up. Pour this mixture on top of the prepared paayasam and mix well.
Enjoy this yummy paayasam at room temperature or chilled.

February 22, 2010
22:45
National Margarita Day
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

National Margarita Day
Summer Time Sunshine click here for reciepe
Bum's Rush, recipe here Blood Orange Margarita ( Courtesy Sloshed)Guess what day it is today, apparently National Margarita Day, not bad for a Monday I say, though I am not a Margarita kinda girl, here are few that I loved just for the looks.Now if you are looking for more ways to celebrate today check out Wiki how for more details.
More Margarita both alcoholic and virgin ideas at SloshedHave fun, Now Monday is not bad after all.

15:25
Pudina, Pappula Annam / Mint Dal Rice Pulao Recipe ~ Weekend Cooking!
» ‎ Cooking 4 all Seasons
There are moments in life when you feel time is standing still. In one moment, a kaleidoscope of things swirl past you in a wink of eye. One week has passed without any efforts, rather efforts that showed much progress. We were so happy getting the notice card from the boys' school. It stated that their LG school will start from April. We were started knowing how days are flying. They would soon begin their school and things will all change.
I so want to grab time and make it not change. I still remember how hard it was when Konda started her school. We used to feel wretched sending her to play school, then primary. Thinking about it and planning for it, she is already in her 4th standard. I am sure the time will fly the equally same pace for my boys. I hold their tiny hands and wonder when I missed noticing Konda's hands gone big!
Though we made a resolution to take one day as it comes, enjoy every single moment, time has a way to creep and steal the time from us. Before I can even know, moments are passing away. We took the boys to stitch their uniform. We went in the bike, it was fun having Peddu sandwiched between his dad and me. He kept a steady string of questions. "What is that Amma, What is this Amma," When they saw the tailor, they were quite happy. The Tailor took Peddu's measurements but he again had to take Chinnu's as he won't budge from the place without his share of measurements. Chinnu was looking quite stern with a look that said how dare you not take my measurements!
As this week guarantee a dose of Stuffed parathas, I was talking about it with my friends over FB and got new ideas. Will surely be trying to make them this week. Be assured that you will get to see some stuffed delicacies will come your way!

Coming to the recipe for today, its something that Amma made for me while I was busy with the non veg part of it. As Sundays are usually meant to be a Rasam Sadam for me, she thought I would enjoy this new rice variety. Of course I did and I said I wanted to share this here.
The title can be translated from Telugu to English as to Pudina - Mint leaves, Pappulu means Dal, as this rice gets a dose of three different Lentils as the main ingredient.

I was quite impressed with the way this rice leads itself to us!

Pudina, Pappula Annam ~ Mint Dal Rice Pulao

Ingredients Needed:

Rice - 1 cup
Onions - 1 medium
Mint leaves / Pudina - handful
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Green Chilies - 2 -3 depending on your taste
Cloves, Cinamon, Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp

Dal Powder

Urad Dal - 1 tsp
Bengal Gram/Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Split Yellow Moong Dal - 1 tsp
Fried Gram Dal - 1 tsp

Cooking Utensil - Non Stick pan with lid,
you can pressure cook but will have to adjust the water used.

Method to prepare:

To make the Dal Powder:

Dry roast all the dals one by one till they start leaving out aroma. Allow it to cool and grind to a fine powder.

To make the Rice:

Wash and soak the rice for 15 mins.

Heat a non stick pan with oil. Add the onions, fry till they are translucent. Add the ginger garlic paste, sauté well. Add the green chilies and mint leaves. Sauté till they wilt.

Then add the drained rice, salt, sauté for couple of mins, add the ground dal powder, spice powder and combine well.

Add 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Then reduce the heat and cook with lid covered for 10 mins till the rice is well cooked.

Notes:
- This should taste good with the regular sona masuri rice too, but Basmati always brings out fine aromas.
- The rice has a hint of mint with nutty flavour, quite good on its own, though you can always serve this with onion raitha.
Enjoy and have a great week ahead. I promise to be back with a stuffed paratha!

10:36
Small Papads
» ‎ Talimpu

Chitti Appadalu. Small papads or chitti appadalu as they are called is a deep fried snack made with maida and rice flour. A dough is prepared with the flour and made into small balls. The balls are pounded between two layers of wet cloth to form into papad. The papad are then deep fried until crisp [...]

3:06
How to make Naan (without yeast)
» ‎ Sailus Food

All of us at home relish Naan. Most times we pick up at a take-away but in recent past I have been preparing Naan at home. Its almost close to the Naan prepared the traditional way using the tandoor (clay oven). Without the use of tandoor or an oven, and without yeast or egg, the popular Indian flatbread can be made at home with the help of our ever reliable iron tawa. It comes out wonderfully light and fluffy with a smoky flavor. I am yet to try the pressure cooker method of cooking Naan. Anyone had good results using a pressure cooker? Do let us know in the comments.
Our Sunday Meal ~ Homemade Naan and Methi Matar Malai
How to prepare home style Naan:
Naan Recipe
Dough resting: 2 hrs Prep & Cooking: 10 mts
Makes approx 8-9 Naans
Cuisine: North Indian
.
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour/maida
1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 cup curd/yogurt
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp baking pwd
pinch of baking soda
1 tsp kalonji or chopped coriander or herbs of your choice (optional)
1-2 tbsps butter
1 Sieve flour, baking pwd, baking soda and salt two times. Place the sieved flour on a wide plate. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour sugar, milk, yogurt and slowly combine, to form a soft dough. Cover with damp cloth and let it rest for 2 hrs.
2 After two hrs, knead the dough gently for 2 mts. Dust the working surface with some flour, pinch a large lemon sized dough and roll into a thick roti, slightly elongated in shape. Sprinkle a few onion seeds/kalonji.
3 Wet your fingers with water and run your fingers along one side of the roti.
4 Heat a iron tawa and once its hot, place the naan, wet side down and place a lid and cook for 40-45 secs on high flame. Remove the lid and you will find that the naan bubbles up. Now cook the other side of the naan over direct heat of the burner using tongs, spreading the naan all over the heat such that brown spots appear. Do this for a few secs only and not too close to the flame.
5 Drizzle some butter over the naan and serve hot with any curry of your choice like Methi Matar Malai or Nilgiri Chicken Korma.
Note:
Alternately, you can pat the roti instead of rolling it, and stretch it using your fingers.
Homemade Naan without yeast
Earlier ‘How to’ articles:
How to make butter and ghee – photo tutorial
How to make rava dosa – photo tutorial
How to make ginger garlic paste
How to blanch tomatoes & onions
How to make Sambar Podi
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February 21, 2010
22:05
Bhindi Masala
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Bhindi Masala

Well weekend is done, its amazing how fast time flies come Saturday and Sunday, had a
super busy weekend. I had an email from one a reader mentioning that when ever she makes bhindi it turns gooey, so posting or rather reposting one of my favorite recipe with few tips/tricks I have learnt the hard way :). This is a very common dish found in any desi restaurant.

Stuff that worked for me to get Bhindi fry right is to make sure there is no moisture on the bhindi, they need to be dried well. 2. It should not be cooked covered. 3. As much as we hate using oil bhindi needs oil, I usually use pam. 4. Before adding bhindi to pan make sure pan is super hot. 5. Use non-stick pan if possible. 6. Using amchur powder makes bhindi's dry.

Ingredients
1 pound Bhindi (Lady Fingers) cut into small pieces
1 big Onion finely sliced vertically
1/2 Tomato cut into small cubes
Salt according to taste

For thadka
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp kasoori methi
1 tbsp Jeera
1 tsp Haldi
1 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper

Process

1. Heat 1 tbsp of Oil in a pan ,when hot add kasoori methi,haldi and ginger garlic paste and Jeera
2. Add Onion and fry till Onion turns translucent
3. Add Bhindi, salt and garam masala, mix well
4. once Bhindi is fried add tomato and Black pepper mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes

Serve with your choice of carbs !!

17:11
Roasted Fennel
» ‎ Siri's Corner

7:26
Tuscan Almond Cookies: Ricciarelli
» ‎ Cook's Hideout
This post has been in my drafts for a while now. I think my next few posts will also be from drafts until (a) I start making some post worthy dishes and (b) run-out of posts in my drafts. Ok then, moving on..
I buy lot of stuff on impulse, not really thinking or planning on what I’m going to use it for. This happens mostly with the items for kitchen; ingredients, appliances etc. Same used to be the case with clothes & shoes, but with age, I’ve slowed down a lot and only buy things that I really really want & need. But I guess it’ll take me a little while to get that kind of restraint in buying kitchen supplies. So one such impulse buys was Almond meal from Trader Joe's a while back. I had it out in the pantry for a long time, and then I stashed it in the freezer along with my other nuts & grains.
When I saw this cookie post by the Jugalbandits, I wanted to try the almond cookie because they looked so cute in their pic. Since the almond meal was made from unpeeled almonds, it has brown flecks unlike the creamy white Jugalbandit’s cookies. That did not affect the taste of these yummy cookies. They are extremely easy to put together, though I was skeptical about whipping egg whites. That’s one of my fears along with making sugar syrups and whipping cream. I don’t even attempt any of the above listed due to the fear of failure. What if I do too much, eggs are going to deflate and sugar is going to too hard. Well I tried this time and I’m glad that everything turned out well and the cookies were just delicious. I followed the recipe from Divina Cucina closely, my only addition is grated orange zest, taken from Jugalbandit’s recipe.
Ingredients:
Almond meal* – 2 cups (I sifted it remove some of the peel)
Confectioners Sugar – 2 cups + Extra for rolling the cookies
Egg whites – 2**
AP flour – 2tbsp
Baking powder – ½tsp
Almond extract – 1 tsp

Method:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Mix almond meal & confectioners sugar. Add flour & baking powder and mix well.
- Whip egg whites until they hold peaks. Fold egg whites into almond meal mixture; add almond extract & orange zest and mix until incorporated. Resultant mixture is sticky but you should able to easily roll into round cookies, if it is too sticky add some flour.
- Roll a small lemon size dough into a round and roll them in confectioner’s sugar; flatten lightly and put them on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Make sure that the cookies are at least an inch thick. Place them well apart as they spread considerably.
- Bake for 13-14 minutes, but check at 12 to make sure they done.
- These measurements made me about 2 dozen cookies. They keep good in an air tight container for about a week. Great with a cup of coffee or even tea.
* Make your own almond meal; see how to here.
** Separate eggs while still cold. Leave the whites at room temperature for at least 20 minutes to bring them to room temperature and then whip, room temp whites whip faster then cold whites.

6:36
Kitchen Essentials ~ Measuring Cups & Spoons
» ‎ Sailus Food

Tablespoon & Teaspoon used for my daily Indian cooking
Keeping in mind some of my dear readers predicament with regard to measurement of ingredients, on their request, I am doing this post on measuring cups and spoons that I use in my daily cooking and baking. The picture you see above of stainless spoons are the tablespoon and teaspoon that I constantly use for my Indian cooking. I should mention here that often my style of cooking is based on ‘andaz’ (eyeball) measurements and I could go wrong while mentioning the quantity of spices used in a particular recipe. You will have to use your own judgment while working on the recipe.
Measuring Cups & Spoons
The red measuring cups and spoons you see above are standard American measurement from IKEA. I use the cups for both Indian cooking and baking while I use the spoons only for baking which requires precise measurement. They are convenient to store requiring less storage space and have the measurements embossed on the handles.
American Measurements:
1 cup – 240 ml
1/2 cup – 120 ml
1/3 cup – 80 ml
1/4 cup – 60 ml
1 tbsp – 15 ml
1 tsp – 5 ml
Are you like me where you eyeball the amount of spices/ingredients that go into your cooking? Or do you follow the exact measurements as mentioned in the recipe? Do you also use the tablespoon and teaspoon that I use in my cooking? Do let me know in the comments.
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5:12
My Blog Roll
» ‎ Essence Of Andhra

Hi Friends,

Hope you're all doing fine. You might have felt my irregularity in visiting your blogs these days. The reason was: I've been busy compiling a comprehensive list of all the blogs I know. I hope I covered most of them. If I miss any please remind me to add. Here is the new blog I created for the purpose.
[bloggerschamber.blogspot.com]
Please visit this blog and check if your blog is included. If not, leave a comment on that blog so that I can add your blog asap. Thank you.
I created this blog so that I can keep in touch with all the blogs and be attentive to all the updates. :) Let me know your valuable opinion on this.

0:24
Greens
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Picked a small stem during 4th of July vacation in Tahoe last year, glad to see it thriving.Hope everyones having a great weekend.

February 20, 2010
11:17
Ragda Patties
» ‎ Talimpu

Ragda is a popular Indian street food made with dried yellow peas. It is generally paired with potato patties for “ragda patties”. Potato is boiled and mashed with other spices to form into patties and either deep fried or shallow fried till light golden brown. It is generally served layered with green chutney and tamarind [...]

February 19, 2010
22:22
TGIF
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

First signs of spring in my yard, love sweet peas so tender and beautiful, lady like I say.
Boy this week went by in a jiffy, glad weekend is here. It's going to be a busy weekend but looking forward to it. Seriously out of recipes for today, need new ideas to cook and blog.

11:03
Ragda
» ‎ Talimpu

Ragda. Ragda is a popular Indian street food made with dried yellow peas. It is generally paired with potato patties for “ragda patties” or with samosa for “ragda samosa” etc. Yellow peas are pressure cooked till soft but not mushy. A gravy is prepared with onion and tomato and the peas are cooked in it to [...]

8:01
Rasgulla & Rasmalai
» ‎ Sailus Food

My favorite Indian dessert ~ Rasmalai
Traditional sweets are usually prepared during festive occasions in our home and its been a while since I made any Indian sweet at home. I have been craving Rasmalai since quite some time but did not get myself to make a visit to our neighborhood Indian sweet store. Today, when Nehal asked me for ‘Rasgullas’, I got down to preparing them at home. This is the first time I ventured out to prepare home style ‘Rasmalai’. One of the greatest culinary creations that has won the hearts of millions the world over. My humble Pranam (salutation) to the makers of these divine specialties!
Rasagulla
Rasgulla and Rasmalai are milk based desserts prepared with freshly prepared chenna aka cottage cheese balls. For Rasagulla, the chenna balls are cooked in sugar syrup till they double in size and are ready to be served. For Rasmalai, chenna balls that have been cooked in sugar syrup are gently squeezed off the sugar syrup and further immersed in saffron flavored sweetened thick milk to cook till soft. One of the most elegant Indian dessert delicacy with sweet and fragrant flavors!
Chenna balls ready for boiling ~ Balls cooking in sugar syrup
Rasagulla Recipe
Prep: 1 hr Cooking Time: 15 mts
Makes approx 15 small rasgullas or 12 large rasgullas
.
Ingredients:
1 lt milk
3 tbsps lemon juice
3 1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar
pinch of cardamom pwd
1 Take a heavy bottomed vessel and boil milk. Once its boiled, slowly add the lemon juice and you will find that the milk will curdle and the whey will separate. The whey will become clear which is an indication that the milk has curdled completely. Immediately add about 10-12 ice cubes and turn off flame. Leave aside for 3-4 mts.
2 Strain the whey and add the chenna to a damp cheese cloth or a light cotton cloth. Gather the four corners of the cloth and twist it gently and rinse under cold water to remove the sourness of the lemon juice. Tie the ends and hang it at a height and allow the whey from the chenna to drain completely. Leave aside for 30 mts.
3 Remove the chenna onto a wide plate. Now knead it gently for 7 mts till there is no trace of moisture and is absolutely soft on touch. This is a very crucial step in the process of rasgulla making.
4 While you are kneading the chenna, prepare the sugar syrup. Place a pressure cooker on the stove and add water and sugar and allow the sugar to dissolve. Bring it to a rolling boil. Add a pinch of cardamom pwd.
5 While the sugar syrup is cooking, make small smooth balls of the kneaded chenna. Ensure there are no cracks on the balls. Slowly add the chenna balls to the boiling sugar syrup. Place lid and pressure cook upto 1 whistle and continue to cook for another 4 mts.
6 Turn off heat. Once the pressure is off, remove the lid. The balls will double in size and become light and springy on touch. If you feel that the balls are not cooked yet, place lid and cook for another 5 mts without the whistle at medium heat.
7 Remove onto a serving dish, bring to room temp, refrigerate and serve chilled along with sugar syrup at room temp OR proceed to prepare rasmalai.
Rasmalai
Rasmalai Recipe
Prep & Cooking Time: 2 1/2 hrs
.
Ingredients:
15 small rasgullas, at room temp
1 cup sugar syrup (from the rasgullas)
3 cups milk
1/2 tsp cardamom pwd
2 tbsps sliced pistachios
2 pinches of saffron, mixed few tbsps milk
1 Take a heavy bottomed vessel and add milk. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium flame and go on stirring on a constant basis for a good 30 mts.
2 Add the sugar syrup and continue to cook for another 20 mts. Add the cardamom pwd, pistachios and saffron and combine. Boil for another 5 mts.
3 While the milk-sugar mixture is boiling, work on the rasagullas. Gently squeeze the rasgullas with a flat ladle such that it forms a patty shape and the syrup is drained out.
4 Add the flattened rasgullas into the thickened milk and cook on low flame for 5 mts. They will absorb the sweet syrup and Rasmalai is ready. Turn off heat and cool.
5 Refrigerate and serve chilled.
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February 18, 2010
20:33
Pepper Fried Rice
» ‎ Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Pepper Fried RiceWell looks like I have a theme going this week with leftovers, early in the week posted recipe for left over roti's and today its a recipe for leftover rice. My mom used to make this once in a while and may be since she made it so rarely I really used to love it. I can count on my fingers what I would eat at home growing up, I was one picky eater but for some reason I loved this especially once I was in college. This recipe sure makes me nostalagic. Ingredients
1 Cup boiled rice ( preferable rice that's cold to touch)
1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup peas and carrot
1 green chili slit length wise
1 shallot cut very fine
2-3 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tbsp pepper corns
salt according to taste
1 tbsp oil or spray like Pam

Process
1. Separate cooked rice with hand till you can see separate grains .
2. Add oil or pam in a pan, when hot add garlic and green chilies and finely sliced shallot.
3. Once shallot turns golden remove from heat and keep separate.
4. In the same pan spray pam or oil and add carrot and peas and peppercorn and saute for a minute.
5. To the above add separated rice and saute.
6. Add freshly ground pepper, salt and shallot garlic mixture and mix everything together.
7. Check for salt and adjust accordingly.

Serve piping hot and we at home eat with ketchup, I know might sound weird but that's how we ate growing up.

10:45
Fenugreek Leaves with Moong Dal
» ‎ Talimpu

Menthikura Pesarapappu Podi Pappu. Fenugreek leaves make a great combination with moong dal. oil is tempered with spices and fenugreek leaves are fried in the oil. Moong dal is cooked till soft but firm and added to the oil. This dal with fenugreek leaves is eaten with plain steamed rice. Makes: around 4 Servings of Fenugreek Leaves [...]

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