March 16, 2010
9:03
Wish all visitors at Food-n-More a very happy Gudi Padwa
» ‎ Food-n-More

To all my dear readers: I wish you all a very very happy and prosperous new year. May the new year bring as much sweetness as these Gulab Jamuns. Sorry I do not have a recipe to share on this auspicious occasion , but how could I not wish you all today. I'' be here very soon with the next recipe. Till then ..... Bye.

7:48
Happy Ugadi!!!
» ‎ S A R A' S C O R N E R

Dear Readers,Wish you all a very Happy Ugadi Festival. Lets this new year bring you lots of happiness, success, good health and wealth.For Ugadi Festival Recipes click here.

7:30
Kalkandu Bhath with Mixed nuts
» ‎ Paajaka Recipes

Ugadhi wishes to you all. May this year be filled with happiness and prosperity. My mom used to make this Kalkandu bhath/saadam/rice using all the prasad we get in the temples. I did not ask her the recipe. I made up my own using the kalkandu, elachi, nuts and raisins and of course with the important ingredients rice and ghee (clarified butter) . This is one high calorie food, a delicious delicacy for any occasion. This recipe might not be the authentic way to do this sweet but sure is a delight that is made easy. Here's the recipe.
Ingredients:
Cooked rice - 2 cups - Rice must be cooked soft in pressure cooker and must be still hot while preparing this dish. Ghee - half cupMixed nuts (or any one for combination of nuts of your choice) - 1 cupElachi / Cardamom powder - half teaspoonKalkandu / Sugar candies - 1 and 1/4 cups ( substitute with plain sugar 1 and half cup if you don't have the kalkandu)
For nuts I used mixed nuts of Almonds, Cashews, Pistachios, Walnuts and added raisins too.
Method:
In a teaspoon of ghee, roast the nuts and keep it aside.
Take a wide and heavy bottomed kadai.
Dissolve the sugar candies (Kalkandu) with half cup water in medium heat.
Once the sugar is dissolved, add the cooked rice, and cardamom powder and reduce the heat.
Keep stirring to avoid mixture sticking to the bottom of the vessel.
Once the rice is mixed well with the dissolved sugar, add the nuts and ghee.
Mix well. At this point, you can taste the sweet and add more sugar if you think the sweetness is not enough. Mix all together and turn off heat.
The sweet is at it's best while it is still warm.
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7:25
Just 10 minutes....
» ‎ Served with love

Love them or hate them, there is no denying that instant noodles are perfect for those times when you are very, very hungry , and/or pressed for time and need something quick to satiate your hunger. Just boil water, toss in the flavouring and the noodle cake, simmer for a bit and you have a hot, steaming bowl of noodles!

The very essence of instant noodles is the flavouring. That small sachet, the contents of which when poured into water, morphs into a delicious broth. However, if you look at the ingredients that make up the flavouring, you'd be right in thinking that you should take the sachet straight to a chemistry lab than into your kitchen.

And while having instant noodles is completely ok occasionally, falling back on them regularly? Umm, not quite. Well, at least that is my humble opinion. But this is EXACTLY what I was guilty of, especially in the last quarter of 2009. Being pressed for time, I'd resort very often to instant noodles for the husband's breakfast and my own lunch.

But everytime I'd reach out for a packet of noodles, I'd feel I felt terrible about making them so often and I started to wonder if there was some way of making my own flavouring.

A few disastrous experiments with mixing different spices in varying proportions followed. Till I hit upon a rather simple solution: make the broth in bulk, freeze it in small packets and use when required.

What follows is not a recipe per se; if the idea appeals to you, just play around with different veggies and spices to suit your own taste.

This is what I do:

In a large vessel, add about 12 mushrooms (I use shitake mushrooms) and 2 tomatoes.

This is an excellent way of using up the stalks of certain veggies; I add cauliflower, brocolli and spinach stalks to mine, whenever I have them on hand. Else, add whatever veggies you have. This time, I also had some chicken bones and I used them as well.

Add about 2.5 litres of water and bring to a boil and then continue to simmer for about 15 mins.

Then, add in the spices and seasonings. I used curry powder, dried minced onions, paprika, stir fry seasoning (containing dried garlic, ginger and red pepper), salt, pepper and a dash of sugar. Simmer for 5 more minutes.

Strain the stock and let it cool completely.

Once the broth is completely cooled, transfer to re-sealable bags; I pour about 300 ml in each bag and freeze them.

So, how do you use the broth to make noodles?

You will need about 100 gms of dried noodles - rice noodles, soba noodles, egg noodles - just take your pick.

Take the frozen broth out of the bag and transfer it to a microwave proof bowl; nuke it till it melts. Transfer to a vessel, add the dried noodles and cook till the noodles are done.
That is it....healthy instant noodles in just 10 minutes!

Healthy instant noodles are my entry to Presto Pasta Nights - 155, brainchild of Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and hosted by yours truly this time.

0:30
Kalkandu Bhath with Mixed nuts
» ‎ Try This Recipe

Ugadhi wishes to you all. May this year be filled with happiness and prosperity. My mom used to make this Kalkandu bhath/saadam/rice using all the prasad we get in the temples. I did not ask her the recipe. I made up my own using the kalkandu, elachi, nuts and raisins and of course with the important ingredients rice and ghee (clarified butter) . This is one high calorie food, a delicious delicacy for any occasion. This recipe might not be the authentic way to do this sweet but sure is a delight that is made easy. Here's the recipe.
Ingredients:
Cooked rice - 2 cups - Rice must be cooked soft in pressure cooker and must be still hot while preparing this dish. Ghee - half cupMixed nuts (or any one for combination of nuts of your choice) - 1 cupElachi / Cardamom powder - half teaspoonKalkandu / Sugar candies - 1 and 1/4 cups ( substitute with plain sugar 1 and half cup if you don't have the kalkandu)
For nuts I used mixed nuts of Almonds, Cashews, Pistachios, Walnuts and added raisins too.
Method:
In a teaspoon of ghee, roast the nuts and keep it aside.
Take a wide and heavy bottomed kadai.
Dissolve the sugar candies (Kalkandu) with half cup water in medium heat.
Once the sugar is dissolved, add the cooked rice, and cardamom powder and reduce the heat.
Keep stirring to avoid mixture sticking to the bottom of the vessel.
Once the rice is mixed well with the dissolved sugar, add the nuts and ghee.
Mix well. At this point, you can taste the sweet and add more sugar if you think the sweetness is not enough. Mix all together and turn off heat.
The sweet is at it's best while it is still warm.
a2a_linkname=document.title;a2a_linkurl="http://www.paajaka.com/feeds/posts/default";

March 15, 2010
16:16
Springing back to blogging this spring
» ‎ Paajaka Recipes

I was waiting, hoping and wishing to start blogging again and here I come. I am extremely delighted to meet all my foodie buddies and my blog followers once again.
Thank you for all the emails. I am sorry if I had not replied to your mails. It has taken several months for me to bounce back to active lifestyle, since I did not expect a prolonged shoulder rehab. All is well now.
In the past year, I have experienced a lot of pain. First the shoulder pain, then the shoulder surgery and then the painful rehab process. Imagine a home, the lady of the house is doing even the regular chores for one full year with a lot of muscle pain in the shoulder. I do not want any one to go through what I experienced, specially to those cooks living abroad. I want to share with you all what I have learnt in the past year.My advise to everyone is, do not take your hand for granted. Please do not abuse it by cooking too much all the time, carrying heavy groceries etc. My advise also extends to all the perfectionists in the kitchen. Kitchen has to be clean and hygienic. Period. Don't exhaust yourself to keep it super duper clean. Also, don't throw too many parties unless you are in good health and spirits. Party means 'A hell lot of work'. I love to throw parties, specially because, it is the only way you get to interact with people especially in the winter days. My advise here is, please do not strain too much and take yourself for granted.
My new companion in my kitchen is the Cuisinart food processor. The ultimate food processor one can own. Indian cooking using this food processor is a breeze. I am talking about the Cuisinart 11 cup custom pro food processor. This was really a helping hand to me. I now use the food processor for most of the recipes. I will be posting various recipes that can be made easily using this food processor. Such a wonderful investment.
Tomorrow is Ugadhi. Kannada, telugu new year. Tomorrow, I will be posting a recipe for Kalkandu Bhath prepared with mixed nuts. It is a very easy breezy sweet that you can prepare in no time. See you all tomorrow.
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15:02
Nonbu Adai - Steamed Rice Flour Cake
» ‎ Spicy Tasty
Karadayan Nonbu also called Savitri Vratham is celebrated in Tamil Nadu. This festival is specially followed by women. Married women follow this Vratham for the prosperity of their husband and unmarried women, to get an ideal person as their husband. During this festival, women perform fasting and does pooja and offerings to God. Nonbu Adai is the main dish for the day. There are spicy and sweet adais. We offer these adais to Goddess Gowri Devi and will tie a holy thread around the neck. I love these adais and used to wait for the pooja to get over so that I can munch on. Here you go…

Ingredients:

For Sweet Adai:
- Rice flour - 1 cup
- Jaggery - 1 1/4 cup
- Sliced coconut - 3 tbsp
- Red cow pea (Karamani in Tamil) - 2 tbsp
- Cardamom - 2 numbers
- Water - 2 cups
- Ghee or clarified - 1/4 cup
For Spicy Adai:
- Rice flour - 1 cup
- Red cow pea - 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
- Urad dal or black gram (split) - 1 tsp
- Channa dal or Bangal gram - 1 tbsp
- Green chilly - 1
- Sliced coconut - 3 tbsp
- Oil - 2 tsp
Method of Preparation:
1. Wash and soak the entire red cow pea for 10 minutes.
2. Boil water in a pan and cook the soaked cow pea till it is soft.
3. Heat a pan and add a cup of rice flour and keep tossing.
4. Remove from heat before the flour starts becoming golden brown. Keep it aside
5. Boil 2 cups of water in a pan and jaggery to that.
6. Once the jaggery completely melts, filter it to get rid off any dirt.
7. Now clean the pan and add the pure jaggery water and bring it to boil.
8. Slice the coconut in to small pieces.
9. Add the ground cardamom, sliced coconut, half of the cooked cow pea. Leave it for a minute.
10. Remove any lumps from the rice flour and add it to the boiling water and remove from heat.
11. Mix well till you get the desired consistency. Dough is ready. It should neither be hard nor be soft.
12. Take the idli plates and grease it with ghee or clarified butter.
13. Grease your hands with ghee.
14. Make balls out of the dough and flatten it and make a hole in the middle like vada and keep it in the idli plates.
15. Repeat the same procedure and steam cook it using your idli cooker or pressure cooker for 15 minutes.
16. Sweet adai is ready.
17. For the spicy adai, heat the rice flour in a pan as mentioned above.
18. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add urad dal, channa dal and chopped green chillies.
19. Add 2 cups of boil and bring it to boil.
20. Add the sliced coconut, remaining cooked cow pea and leave for a minute
21. Remove any lumps from the rice flour and add it to the boiling water and remove from heat. Mix well till you get the desired consistency.
22. Make balls and follow the same procedure as mentioned above for sweet adai.
Serve with butter…

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10:29
A creamy berry refresher!
» ‎ Tangerine's Kitchen Hangout!
A trip to the supermarket and I am always back with a box of strawberries. Although they aren't sweet, I pick them up with the myriad things I can make out of them. I remember the sweet strawberries that grew in my mother's kitchen garden at our hometown ina hill station. For resons unknown, they were pretty tiny berries but were very sweet. The recent ones that are bought off the shelves are very pretty and luscious owing to their ruby red colour. who could ever not pick them up. I crave for this flavour among all the fruts in my dessert but only next to lemon. What I have for you is a perfect recipe to refresh you in the scorching heat providing you immediate respite.

What you need are:
- 1 C of hulled straberries
- 1/2 C of low fat cream
- 1/2 C of Sugar (This again varies depending upon how sweet the strawberries are!)
- 1/2 C of Ice Cubes
Blend all of the above and pour into a galss and serve chilled. You could also seep strawberries in sugar syrup and then blend them . Either way works and the result is fabulous as you can see!

BBD # 28 is being hosted here. Hope you are baking for the event too!
Subscribe to my space!

9:16
Springing back to blogging this spring
» ‎ Try This Recipe

I was waiting, hoping and wishing to start blogging again and here I come. I am extremely delighted to meet all my foodie buddies and my blog followers once again.
Thank you for all the emails. I am sorry if I had not replied to your mails. It has taken several months for me to bounce back to active lifestyle, since I did not expect a prolonged shoulder rehab. All is well now.
In the past year, I have experienced a lot of pain. First the shoulder pain, then the shoulder surgery and then the painful rehab process. Imagine a home, the lady of the house is doing even the regular chores for one full year with a lot of muscle pain in the shoulder. I do not want any one to go through what I experienced, specially to those cooks living abroad. I want to share with you all what I have learnt in the past year.My advise to everyone is, do not take your hand for granted. Please do not abuse it by cooking too much all the time, carrying heavy groceries etc. My advise also extends to all the perfectionists in the kitchen. Kitchen has to be clean and hygienic. Period. Don't exhaust yourself to keep it super duper clean. Also, don't throw too many parties unless you are in good health and spirits. Party means 'A hell lot of work'. I love to throw parties, specially because, it is the only way you get to interact with people especially in the winter days. My advise here is, please do not strain too much and take yourself for granted.
My new companion in my kitchen is the Cuisinart food processor. The ultimate food processor one can own. Indian cooking using this food processor is a breeze. I am talking about the Cuisinart 11 cup custom pro food processor. This was really a helping hand to me. I now use the food processor for most of the recipes. I will be posting various recipes that can be made easily using this food processor. Such a wonderful investment.
Tomorrow is Ugadhi. Kannada, telugu new year. Tomorrow, I will be posting a recipe for Kalkandu Bhath prepared with mixed nuts. It is a very easy breezy sweet that you can prepare in no time. See you all tomorrow.
a2a_linkname=document.title;a2a_linkurl="http://www.paajaka.com/feeds/posts/default";

8:10
Raisin Buns
» ‎ My Kitchen Treasures

Raisin Buns

8:05
Nombu adai - the sweet version
» ‎ Creative saga...

Nombu adai is a special sweet dish made with rice flour for karadayan nombu or Savitri nombu when married women pray for the well being and long life of her husband . You can read more about this...

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7:21
MANGO PACHADI WITH AGAVE NECTAR
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen
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Mango pachadi is a true delicacy for us. Prepared with unripe mangoes and jaggery, this simple dish is such a relish with just rice and curd or rasam. I tried this pachadi with agave nectar from the request of a friend who was also cutting down her carbs. Initially I thought of adding honey with any sugar substitute for the pachadi but from the diabetic stand-point, though jaggery and honey are considered healthy and wholesome (these do not raise the triglycerides as compared to refined sugar for people with diabetics) but they are still on the high glycemic index range. High glycemic index foods generally raise the blood sugars quickly compared to their counterparts. Agave nectar is a natural sweetener with low glycemic index and the perfect substitute for honey or molasses. I felt this was perfect for this pachadi, moreover the taste of this mango pachadi was as close to the traditional dish made with jaggery. Dear friends, do try this dish with agave nectar and let me know how it turned out for you :)

INGREDIENTS:
1. Unripe mangoes, 2.
2. Agave nectar, any type, darker version gives a good color to the dish, ½ cup or more, depending upon sweetness.
3. Salt, a pinch.
4. Curry leaves, a handful.
5. Red chilies, 1-2.
6. Mustard seeds, ¼ teaspoon
PREPARATION:

Peel the skin off the mangoes and cut into small bite-size pieces. Heat a pan with some oil. Add the mustard seeds when the oil is hot and let them splutter. Then add the red chilies and curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. The chilies can be kept whole or broken according to heat preferences. Then add the mangoes along with salt and enough water to cover the mangoes and cook closed under medium flame for 10-12 minutes until the mangoes are cooked and tender. At this point, add the agave nectar and mix everything well. Cook for 5 more minutes and switch off the stove. Enjoy mango pachadi with any type rice varieties or chapathis.
Gita's Kitchen

1:25
Ariselu / Aathirasallu for Indian Cooking Challenge!
» ‎ Spice your Life

Another wonderful Indian Traditional dish tried out for Indian Cooking Challenge. It naturally had to be a sweet dish after the wonderful Kachoris. While browsing through the list of items that everybody wanted to learn, I saw that the famous Andhra traditional sweet Ariselu or Athirasallu was the most sought one. Actually when I saw this choice I was thinking maybe I will ignore, having made it myself. But then how can I ignore when most of the members wanted to try.

Only sad part being I couldn't make it, though till the end I was thinking I will somehow make it. You can read about the passion and effect these have on me. I simply love these and even more, because my daughter loves it more. What can be more enjoyable than making something your child loves, absolutely nothing!
Since I have a tried and tested recipe from my Mom, it becomes very easy this month. Infact she has two types, one the traditional Athirasallu recipe which is tricky, the other that is quite simpler.

This post also marks a milestone for Spice your life, this being the 100th post! What a way to celebrate the occasion! Thank you everybody for the support and encourage I always get in whatever I do and share. Thank you for allowing me to share my spices in life!

My Mom says Athirasallu are something that even an expert cook can fail at. Well I am not scaring but this is one recipe that requires lots of practice and loads of patience. For your convenience I again asked Amma for a smaller measurement.

I gave the members two different recipes that my mom had.

Since many of the members didn't have an idea of the Jaggary that is the Pacham Bellam or Paku Jaggary, I took this photo with all different variety I get locally.

Recipe 1Ariselu / Aathirasallu For Indian Cooking Challenge
Recipe Source : My Mom, recipe re-posted from Ariselu from Cooking 4 all SeasonsMakes 7 -8 pieces of regular poori size

Ingredients Needed

Raw Rice - 200 gms
Paku Jaggary - 250 gms
Sesame Seeds - 2 tsp or less
Gasa gasa or Poppy Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder - a pinch

Method to prepare.

Soak rice for 6 hrs and then shade dry it. Meaning it should not become dry but should still have some wetness in the rice. You can either grind this to fine powder using your mixie or give to mill. The rice flour should have that texture of soft and wet feeling when you take a handful and also it should kind of retain your fist shape. Hope you understand what I am saying. This is very important because if the flour is very dry it wouldn't turn out well.

Have all the things ready when you put the jaggary for cooking.

Take water that is enough to dilute jaggary. Dissolve the jaggary. Remove any impurities that may be present. Then again cook till the pakam is ready. The consistency here is also very important. Hope you know that pakam is calculated as threads.

This is how we check the thread consistency, when the jaggary starts boiling and becomes thick, carefully take a small bit and touch it between your thumb and Index fingers. A thread will be formed when you take your fingers away from each other.

Likewise when the syrup becomes thick, you can find 3 threads being formed. So after 3 thread consistency the jaggary is really cooked well and it become thick. When you take a bit and put it in water, you should be able to make a ball of it. This is when you know the pakkam is ready.

Remove from fire, and add poppy seeds, sesame seeds and cardamom. Mix well. Then slowly add the rice flour and keep mixing well. The consistency is very important, so you need to add the flour little by little. Mix till you get a chapati dough consistency. End of this, you may still have some flour left out.

Divide into lemon size balls. Grease a plastic sheet and your fingers. Place the ball on the sheet, and pat it down to a poori size.

Heat oil for frying and slowly drop these discs into the hot oil. You can simmer for a while until you know the inside is cooked. Turn to the other side and cook till its golden in colour. If you are cooking alone, you can roll out one by one and cook. Else it might get burnt. Once done, remove and drain on a Kitchen towel.

Recipe 2

This method yeilds about 8.

Ingredients Needed

Rice Flour - 1 glass (standard measurement)
Jaggary - 1/2 glass
Coconut grated - 2 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Water - 1/2 glass
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp

Oil for deep frying.

Method to prepare:

I had the Achu vellam, so grated and added water just enough to cover them. Cooked on high and removed the scum. Then added the cardamom powder. Once it starts boiling, add the grated coconut. You will see lot of bubbles coming out.

At this stage, add the Rice flour slowly and stir it together well. You will know when the consistency is correct, so till then you got to keep adding the flour, but I used up the entire glass of flour.

The beauty of this dough is, you can store and use whenever you want. If it becomes too hard, just add about 2 tsp of water along with 2 tsp of sugar. Get it to boil, while you keep stirring it. The mix should become soft again. When you handle it, it should come together as a soft dough. Divide it to equal balls.

Heat a kadai with oil to deep fry these. In a greased plastic sheet, pat them down to equal sized discs. Press down the sesame seeds over the top. Once the oil is hot, gently drop these into them. Fry on both sides. Since the sesame seeds are just pressed over the top, they will get into the oil. If you want to avoid this, try adding to the dough.

Once they are golden brown, remove and drain them on a kitchen towel.They will be soft when you remove them, will become crunchy once they are cooled.

The regular ones are normally soft and oily, but these were crunchy and no oil at all!

To all my ICC members, please link your Ariselu / Aathirasallu post to Mr. Linky.

March 14, 2010
15:20
A pizza will do the trick
» ‎ A Life (Time) of Cooking

The other day a friend wanted some company to the Farmers Market on Sunday morning. Although I was not in need of anything, it is always a treat to go IF you arrive early. And arrive early we did. What I didn’t realise is that I would be the chief bag carrier, while my friend shopped [...]

March 13, 2010
20:52
Appala poo Kozhambu / Papad Curry
» ‎ Spicy Tasty
Bored of having sambar and rasam???… Here is something different for you, Appala poo kozhambu. When I got married my grandmother wrote all her recipes and gave it to me. When I wanted to try something different, this recipe came into my mind. I tried this and it’s now super hit. Everyone who have tasted this liked it a lot. It’s a simple dish and goes well with rice.

Ingredients:
- Appalam Poo : 10 or Plain Appalam (Pappad): 7
- Onion : 1 chopped finely
- Tomato : 1 chopped
- Seasoning vadam/ Vengaya vadagam : 1 tsp (optional)
- Ginger garlic paste : 2 tsp
- Sambar powder : 2 tsp
- Salt : to taste
- Oil : 1 cup
- Coriander leaves : 2 strings
Masala to Grind:
- Coconut-3 tbsp
- Split roasted gram (Dalia)-2 tbsp
- Fennel seeds-2 tsp
Method of Preparation:
1. Fry the papads and break it into 3 or 4 pieces and keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a kadai and add the seasoning vadam.
3. Add the onions and fry them till they become translucent.
4. Add the ginger garlic paste and toss it for 2 minutes.
5. Now add the tomatoes followed by the salt and sambar powder and sautee for few minutes.
6. Pour some water and add the fried papads when it is about to boil.
7. In the meantime grind the masala to paste and add this paste to the mixture.
8. When it starts boiling remove the mixture from heat and garnish with the coriander leaves.
Note:

Add salt a little lesser than usual because the Papad contains some salt in it so after it is soaked it increases the salt.

© arthi for Spicy Tasty, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: gravies, kozhambu, side-dishes

Tags: gravies, kozhambu, side-dishes

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19:53
ALMOND AND FIG MILK
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen

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This recipe idea is from my husband. Badam (almond) milk is a very popular drink in my region. There are different versions of this drink. Usually the milk will be very thick with all the nuts and cream with a hint of cardamom flavor. I had a craving for this milk today, so I went in for a lighter version of badam milk using fat-free milk and Splenda instead of sugar. As I was blending this, my husband joined in and threw in some dried figs to the milk and hence the name “almond and fig milk”. This was really sweet, kind of a dessert for us after dinner. Here is my low-calorie, fiber-rich badam milk.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Almonds, ¼ cup.

2. Dried figs, ¼ cup.

3. Cardamom seeds, 2.

4. Fat-free milk, 2 cups. (Almond milk or soy milk can also be used here).

5. Sugar or any sweetener of choice, 2 tablespoons.

PREPARATION:

Soak the almonds for 3-4 hours and remove the skin. Crush the cardamom coarsely. Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend everything to a smooth mixture. This can be served as it is. To serve the milk hot, transfer the contents to a pot and cook for a few minutes until it comes to a boil. Once the milk comes to a boil, reduce the flame and let it simmer for a few more minutes and serve.

I am sending this to “Think beyond the usual - fruits” event organized by Nithu Bala

These are my other entries for the event:

Apple rasam

Cranberry rice

Cranbery Rasam

Onion and cranberry chutney

Apricot pachadi
Gita's Kitchen

0:05
How to make Sprouts?
» ‎ S A R A' S C O R N E R

Sprouts can be prepared from any pulse/legume. Its very healthy if consumed raw without cooking. I prepare sundal with this. Its good to reduce weight and cholestrol.Heres the simple steps to make the pulses/legumes sprout.Take 1 cup of green gram or as required.Soak it in water till its nicely soft.Its looking soft.Then remove water and cover it with a lid or put in an air tight container.Leave

March 12, 2010
14:59
Beijinho ('Little Kiss' in Portuguese) (Sweet from Brazil)
» ‎ Welcome to my kitchen treats
The town close to us (Framingham) has a lot of Brazilian residents and the down town has quiet a lot of Brazilian shops. Both V and myself love to try various cuisines. Though we have been staying here for a while, we never thought about visiting the Brazilian restaurants here. It was late last year that we got the idea to visit one of these restaurants when we had started on our weekend venture to try a different cuisine. It was an unforgettable experience when we visited this restaurant called Terra Brasilis (which is become our go-to restaurant when we are not-sooo-hungry but hungry enough to feel like eating out ;-) ...that's the exact way we describe it to our friends here whenever we talk about this restaurant. There is a reason behind it :) . And that's what made it an unforgettable experience the first time.

We entered the restaurant and the manager/employee told us that we could sit anywhere, there wasn't anybody else eating there at the time we went. We let him know that this was our first time eating at a Brazilian restaurant (thank god we did that...because....that's when this gets interesting)... The food was like a buffet, and we went to the meat section which was a grill section serving different types of grilled meats. Since I had the option for just chicken sausage, I took that while V was piling up with his favourites, then something unusual happened , they told us that we need to weigh our plates before returning to our table. The plates were weighed and a receipt was given about the amount charged for the meat served. Instead of returning to our tables, we then moved towards the rest of the buffet section , after all just eating meat was not our idea of a buffet. Like at any other restaurant buffet we went to, we piled up our plates with a lot of food from the rest of the buffet section that had various foods , some looked familiar, while others were typical Brazilian food. I was glad to pile up the plate thinking, yay ..so we need to pay just for the meat and rest of it is all-you-can-eat....while V thought, maybe we need to pay a standard buffet rate at the end.

What both of us didn't realize until we saw more people coming into the restaurant, started taking food from the usual buffet side and moving towards the grilled meat section and weighing the total plate ! When we finished our first course of food and wanted to go for a second helping (as is normally done at the buffets we have been to in the past), we realized we didn't weigh our plates completely the first time for the food we ate. Realizing our mistake, we felt embarrassed and we apologized to the manager who realized what happened (remember we told him this was our first time !) was amused and cheerfully told us not to worry as this was our first time, it was a funny as well as embarrassing moment for us ...We then did the right thing for our second helping ,(didn't pile up our plates though ;-) .....that's why we call it 'the to-go restaurant for the not-sooo hungry , but hungry to feel like eating out' days ;-) ...you pay for exactly how much you eat ! The food was really good and we became their loyal customers from then on :) We left the the restaurant that day with a discount coupon which we got from the manager that we still use when we go there every month.

It was at this restaurant that we tried this Brazilian sweet made of condensed milk , and shredded coconut coated with powdered sugar and unsweetened powdered coconut. We relished it so much that I wanted to re-create it in my kitchen. Upon researching on internet, I found this was the simplest sweet that could be made by even children (with adult supervision of course) !

It looked and tasted exactly the same way as in the restaurant and is my husband's favorite as its a coconut based sweet.

Ingredients:

Sweetened Condensed milk : 1 can

Sweetened coconut flakes or Shredded coconut : 3/4 cup

1 tablespoon butter

Dry unsweetened coconut : for coating each ball of the sweet
Granulated sugar : for coating each ball of sweet

Method:
- On medium heat, combine Sweetenend Condensed milk and butter in a deep bottom vessel.
- Stir until the mixture starts reducing and leaves the sides of the vessel while stirring.
- Take off the heat and add Sweetened coconut and stir until well combined.
- Transfer to a bowl, let it cool. Keep it in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Then take out and the mixture should have hardened. Now using a spoon or melon scoop, form even size balls, and coat each ball with a combination of unsweetened coconut and granulated sugar. Arrange it on a plate.
- As a serving suggestion , you may insert a clove on the top of each ball (that's how it was served in that restaurant :) ...just remember to take out the clove before eating the sweet.
- Cool it in the refrigerator for few more hours for the coating to harden a bit. Beijinhos taste better the next day when a slight flavour of the cloves penetrate the sweets. .....Love this sweet and will make again :)
Note:
The left-over cloves can be used as a spice while making tea ;-)

13:44
Easy Pasta with Arugula & Walnut Pesto
» ‎ Fun and Food

There's something about Pasta that makes it a favorite weeknight dinner - Yes, the ease to prepare it, and the vast variety of sauces that one can conjure to make any Pasta recipe a different-than-last-time one. Not to mention that its a hit with kids and parents alike! But what I like about it is the fact that I can easily sneak in some healthy ingredients into the sauce or the recipe, without getting strange looks from those at the table! Like this one, which uses Arugula & Walnut Pesto to...

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6:50
BROWN RICE KUSKA
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen

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Kuska is a type of plain briyani without veggies or meat. The rice is usually cooked in cooked in chicken broth along with the spices and served with a spicy side dish. There are different versions of kuska like adding coconut milk or yogurt. Preparing kuska with brown rice was a little bit challenging. When I tried this for the first time with my usual method of making briyani, the rice took a long time to cook and I was not satisfied with the overall taste. This time, I let the rice cook in the broth and then added it the briyani masalas and baked everything for sometime. This way the rice absorbed all the briyani flavors and tasted really great. Actually I got a double thumbs-up from my hubby for this kuska. I also made Vellore brinjal serwa for the first time and this has changed my husband into a brinjal convert. This is the first time he loved any brinjal dish, so I think I’ll be getting more requests for this combo from now on :) The brinjal serwa can be found at Malar or at or Viki .

INGREDIENTS:

1. Brown basmati rice, 1 cup.

2. Onions, medium-size, 3.

4. Tomatoes 2.

5. Green chilies, 1-2.

6. Ginger-garlic paste, 1 tablespoon.

7. Chili powder, 1 teaspoon.

8. Chopped mint leaves, ½ cup.

9. Curry leaves and cilantro for garnishing.

10. Cinnamon, 1 small stick.

11. Bay leaf, large, 1.

12. Cloves, 2.

13. Star anise, 1.

14. Cardamom, 2 pods.

15. Fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon.

16. Briyani masala powder, 1 teaspoon.

17. Chicken broth or vegetable broth for cooking the rice, 1 cup mixed with 1 cup of water. The broth can be store bought or homemade, even fat-free versions are available in the groceries.

18. Yogurt,1 tablespoon.

19. Salt as per taste.
20. Cashews, 1 tablespoon.

PREPARATION:

Wash the rice well and soak it for 30 minutes and cook the rice in the chicken or vegetable broth until the grains are fluffy. The rice can be cooked either in pressure cooker or microwave. If pressure cooker is used for cooking, cook the rice just up to 3 whistles. Let the rice cool. Meanwhile dice the onions and tomatoes finely. Heat a thick bottomed pan, with 2 tablespoons of oil. When the oil turns hot, add all the spices and cashews and let them fry for a minute. Then add the chopped onions and curry leaves and sauté them for a few minutes until the onions turn brown. Now add the chopped tomatoes, slit green chilies, ginger-garlic paste and keep sautéing until everything is blended. Add the chili powder, briyani masala, yogurt, and salt and let it cook for a few more minutes. When the mixture is well blended and good smell starts coming from the mixture, add the cooked brown rice, chopped mint and cilantro leaves, mix everything and lower the flame. Cook closed for 15 minutes under low flame and switch off the stove. Another method is at this stage, the contents can also be transferred to a baking dish and closed with an aluminum foil as tightly as possible and cooked in a preheated oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve hot kuska with raita and any spicy vegetarian or non-vegetarian dishes and enjoy.

Gita's Kitchen

6:26
Presto Pasta Nights - 155
» ‎ Served with love

Spaghetti looks a lot like string
Bow-tie is my favourite thing

Rigatoni is quite round
How does penne pasta sound?

The sauce on top is often red
You can try some cheese instead

Garlic butter tastes quite nice
And then there’s always salsa spice

Macaroni and alphabet soup
Fit into a spoon’s small scoop

Other noodles must be twirled
By people all around the world

On forks, chopsticks and fingers, too
(Unless you cut them up in two)

All sorts of pasta shapes are fun
Try them all until you are done

(courtesy my daughter, who got this rhyme in school!)
Yes, you got it! I am this week's host for Presto Pasta Nights - 155.

All you have to do - just bring them out - pastas or noodles and dress them up any way you want to: soups, starters, main course or even dessert! Go classic Italian or draw inspiration from any other cuisine. Need more details? Just hop here .

Then, post your creation in your blog (your post must include the link to the Presto Pasta Nights website and to the PNN #155 announcement - that would be this post) and mail it to me at: aquadaze(AT)rediffmail(DOT)com

Do mark a copy to Ruth at: ruth(AT)4everykitchen(DOT)com

Include the following details in your e-mail:

Your name
Your blog name and URL
Name of your submission and URL of your post
A photo

Don't have a blog, but have a super recipe that you want to share? Just mail me the recipe and the picture!

PPN #155 runs between March 12th - March 18th. Check back on the 19th for the round-up.
Looking forward to your delicious entries!

March 11, 2010
15:35
Boondhi Laddu - Gram Flour Laddu
» ‎ Spicy Tasty
Laddu is an Indian sweet which is often prepared during festivals or any special occasions at home. You can also see Laddu at many temples kept as prasadham. There are different types of laddu such as Rava Laddu, Ragi laddu, Boondhi laddu, etc. I have given you the recipe for Boondhi Laddu. Here you go…

Ingredients:
- Besan/Gram flour - 1 cup
- Sugar - 2 cups
- Milk - 100 ml
- Cardamom - 3 numbers
- Whole Cashew nut - 5 numbers
- Raisins - 10 numbers
- Yellow food color
- Oil for frying
- Clarified butter - 1 tsp
Method of Preparation:
1. Heat a deep bottomed pan or kadai, add 2 cups of sugar and a little water till the sugar gets wet completely.
2. Once the sugar melts completely, add the milk.
3. Milk helps to get rid off any dirt in sugar. Skim the dirt off the syrup.
4. When the syrup starts thickening, take a few drops in your fore finger and check the texture with your thumb.
5. It should be sticky that you should be able to see strings (we call it “kambi padham” in tamil) between your fingers.
6. Now the syrup is ready. Remove from heat.
7. Add a pinch of lemon yellow color for the laddu to be in yellow colour.
8. Take a tsp of clarified butter in a small pan and add broken cashew nuts and raisins and fry till cashew becomes golden brown in color. Keep it aside.
9. Take besan or gram flour in a bowl and add water and mix it well till you get a free flowing batter like dosa batter.
10. In India we get a separate ladle for making boondhi. If you don’t have one you can use the steel skimming laddle which has the small holes perfect for making boondis.
11. Now heat oil in a deep bottomed pan or kadai.
12. Oil should be hot enough that as soon as you drop a drop of batter, it should come up with bubbles.
13. When oil is ready, keep the boondhi ladle or the steel skimming ladle above oil and pour a cup or required amount of batter in it.
14. Do not pour so much of batter because it needs space to get fried properly in oil.
15. You can see small beads of gram flour in oil with bubbles. This is called Boondhi.
16. Once the bubbles goes off, check the boondhi for its texture. It has to be soft and cooked.
17. Remove it using another skimming ladle before it becomes deep fried.
18. Strain the excess oil using a paper towel and put it immediately in the sugar syrup. It absorbs syrup only when the boondhi is hot.
19. Repeat the same procedure with the rest of the batter.
20. Every time mix the boondhi with the syrup well before dropping the next set of boondhis.
21. There should be no excess syrup in the mixture so that you will be able to make balls in good shape.
22. Finally add the powdered cardamom and fried cashews and raisins and mix well with the boondhi.
23. It will be a semi hard mixture.
24. Take a little amount of mixture and make boondhi balls out of it.
25. You need practice on this one. If you feel it is tough, you can make square shape laddu with the square cookie cutter.
Serve hot or at room temperature.

© Nithu for Spicy Tasty, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: sweets

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12:47
Sundried Tomatoes in Olive oil.
» ‎ My Kitchen Treasures

Sundried Tomatoes in Olive oil.

5:01
Vegetable and pasta soup
» ‎ Creative saga...

Before we go to the recipe , I wanted to tell you all about the lovely weekend we had. We had been to the Singapore's Peranakan museum where they were exhibiting a special section on Ramayan. We got...

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March 10, 2010
22:50
MUSHROOM PAKORAS
» ‎ IN LOVE WITH FOOD
As the first Dahlia blooms in my garden I know Spring has finally arrived, the days are lovely sunny and warm and my soul which had been hibernating in the cold Winter's has now put forth fresh new leaves like the grape vine in my backyard, and I feel a new life has been infused into me.
Today at the farmer's market we came across some very fresh mushrooms and instantly I knew I had to buy them for my husband's absolute favorite- Mushroom pakoras, for Vegetarian's they pack a surprise since they taste almost like fish pakoras and are really irresistible.
The recipe is an old favorite and the blend of mushrooms with garlic and a light sprinkling of ajwain gives these pakoras a gorgeous flavor and taste.
Try these,they are really lovely...
Ingredients-
- Fresh mushrooms-250 gms
- Fresh garlic cloves (crushed)-6-7
- Vinegar-2 tbsp
- Ajwain-1/4 tsp
- Turmeric-1/4 tsp
- Chickpea flour(besan)-1/2 cup
- Refined oil for deep frying
- Salt and red chilli powder to taste.
Method
- Wash and cut mushrooms into bite size pieces.
- Combine besan with all the other ingredients and add just enough water to make a thick batter consistency.
- In a large bowl combine mushrooms with the batter and adjust salt, mix well to ensure each piece is coated.
- Heat oil for deep frying, drop in the mushroom pieces into hot oil, fry till golden and crisp.
- Drain on kitchen towels
- Serve hot with tomato ketchup.Super party food!

10:04
Parathas with leftover Potato Peas Kurma ~ Quick dish for kids!
» ‎ Spice your Life

There are days when one feels there should be more hours for a day. The only pushing thought to make you accept that you can't sleep anymore, would be the child who has the early school. Try you may to escape this vicious circle, but you simply can't. The work looks very appealing at night and you are with so many ideas. Yet you keep an eye on the clock which is always tickling away. The moment you hit the pillow you are lost!

The next moment that comes to senses is the time well past the time for you to make something decent. The past few days have been like this. After many months of procrastination, I finally decided the pending work needs to be attended. Gosh work on the code and you never know where the time disappears. Recently I was working on implementing those fancy social network buttons on the blog, it took forever to do that. Anyway I love the result.

So when I overslept one of these days, I was so upset I hadn't planned for Konda's breakfast or lunch. I remembered the Potato Peas Kurma that was in the fridge and remember Aloo Peas Tikkis, yes when I had made these for burger, I had made them into parathas for Konda's lunch. Knowing how well she liked that, even said she didn't feel the peas in her parathas, I was tempted to make them again.

This time it was with the leftover sabji/kurma, which gave an altogether different and lovely taste.

The way I did with regular stuffing was, pressure cook potatoes and peas. mash them well together, sauté onions, little bit of green chili and salt to taste.

Blend this mix into the flour well and knead into a dough and make parathas.

The way I made these parathas with leftover Kurma was,
micro the kurma for 1 -2 mins.
skin the potatoes if they are left on.
remove the tomato skin or other things that your kid may not eat.
grate the potatoes and peas into the flour.
Add salt and bit of spice if you feel the need.
Add ghee and knead to a soft dough.
Heat a tawa and after rolling out, press with a small disc over the rolled paratha to get a small disc. Kids love to be given these small chapatis.

Serve with table butter or curds/yogurt.

I sent these to Konda's lunch and served as breakfast to the rest. It was really so enjoyable. I increased the spice when served to the adults.

Sending this to Suma who is hosting JFI : Breakfast, an event started by Indira

7:21
Rogan Josh
» ‎ Served with love

It all started when we had a friend over for dinner. Who is a big foodie. And who I, obviously, wanted to impress.

"Food smells good. So what's for dinner?"

"Rogan Josh", I say, with just that touch of airiness.

For unlike things like mutton kadhai, rogan josh has that very nice sound to it. Just say it 'Rogan Josh’. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

"Hmmm, it tastes very delicious", he says. "Hate to burst your bubble though, but this is not authentic rogan josh."

I stare at him, murder in my eyes.

"Rogan Josh", he continues, "does not have any onion or garlic or tomatoes, for that matter."

"Really? I can pull out the recipe and prove that this is rogan josh", I claim. "And how", I continue, with a touch of scorn, "Can you be so sure of what rogan josh contains?"

"Because a good friend in college was a Kashmiri Pandit. I have eaten at his place a dozen times. I do know what I am talking about, Kashmiri Pandits don't eat onions or garlic."

I was then convinced that he had a point. And that set me off on a quest for the recipe of the 'authentic' rogan josh. (Of course, my friend was of no help in sourcing the recipe from his friend's mom. He had lost touch with him years ago).

Thank God, they invented google! With help from here and here, this is my version of rogan josh.

And while I am not laying claim to any authenticity, all I can say is when that same friend came over again, he thought that (finally) I had got it right!

Rogan josh has a very flavourful gravy with a very subtle taste from the use of various dry spices. If you are a vegetarian, use baby eggplants in place of the meat; the cooking time for the eggplant will be considerably less.

Ingredients:

Goat meat/Lamb: 750 gms

Asafoetida: 1.5 tsps
Dry spice powders - Dried ginger powder, fennel seed powder, coriander seed powder: 1 tbsp each
Kashmiri red chilli powder: 2 tsps
Grated ginger: 1 tsp

Whole garam masala:
Cinnamon: a 2" piece
Cloves: 8 nos
Black cardamom: 4 nos
Green cardamom: 3 nos
Black peppercorns: 6

Yogurt: 3/4 cup (the yogurt has to be at room temperature)
Ghee: 4 tbsps
Salt: to taste

Saffron: 1 pinch, soaked in a tbsp of rosewater
Method:

Heat ghee and add the whole garam masala, saute for 30 seconds. Add 3/4 tsp of asafoetida and saute another 30 seconds.

Add 1 tsp of red chilli powder and immediately add the meat, stirring till the pieces are evenly browned on all sides. The meat will leave water, keep stirring till all the water has dried up. This will take about 12-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk all the dry spice powders into the yogurt and add this to the lamb after the water has dried up. Stir till the yogurt has dried up and the masala coats the meat.

Add 2 cups of warm water, the grated ginger, the remaining asafoetida and the salt. Cover and cook on a very low flame till the meat is tender.

Remember we used only half the red chilli powder? Once the meat is cooked, add in the remaining red chilli powder, increase the heat and bring to a rapid boil. Your gravy will now look a fiery red with a thin film of oil on top.

Stir in the saffron soaked rosewater, cover and let the curry rest for a couple of hours so that all the flavours get infused into the meat.
Notes:
Resist all temptation to cook it in a pressure cook. The flavours come out best when the meat is cooked over low heat. In fact, I transfer mine to a slow cooker when I add the water and cook it for about 5 hrs. Seriously, I do.
Rogan josh has a deep red colour that it gets from the use of ratanjot, a herb grown in Kashmir. If you manage to get some, add a tsp after the meat has cooked along with the remaining chilli powder.

I normally leave the cooked meat overnight in the fridge, I think it tastes better the next day. It also helps in another way - in the fridge, the ghee solidifies. Scoop that out with a spoon before heating.

Forget the rotis and the parathas, rogan josh is best had with plain white rice.

6:46
PESARATTU/ MOONG DHAL DOSA
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen

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I am always on the lookout for healthy breakfast ideas other than our regular weekdays oatmeal breakfast. On weekends, we have an elaborate breakfast like pongal, adais, and recently I started preparing pesarattu after seeing this is in many blogs. This is such a healthy breakfast and quick to prepare. When making adais, my grandma usually sautés some onions and then adds it to the adai batter. I did the same with the pesarattu batter. This version was really good. It smelled like onion dosas and the taste was just awesome. This time we had these with sambar and tomato thokku.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Green moong dhal/mung beans 1 cup.

2. Brown rice, a handful.

3. Ginger, a small piece.

4. Green chilies, 1-2.

5. Salt as per taste.

6. Cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon.

7. Small onions, 2.

PREPARATION:

Wash the rice and dhal and soak it for 3-4 hours. Grind it to a smooth batter along with ginger, green chilies, and salt. Meanwhile dice the onions very finely. Heat a small pan with some oil. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and let it splutter. Then add the onions and sauté for a few minutes until the onions turn translucent. Add this mixture to the batter and mix well. To prepare the dosas, heat a flat cast iron pan or nonstick pan. Rub some oil on surface with a cloth or paper towel. When the surface of the pan is hot, take some batter in a ladle and pour it on the pan, and immediately spread it evenly with the help of a ladle. Add a little bit of oil on the corners if needed. After 1-2 minutes, flip the dosas to the other side and let it cook for another minute. Repeat the same with the reminder of the batter and serve hot pesarattu with any chutneys of choice.
Gita's Kitchen

March 09, 2010
21:47
Chocolate Chip Cookies
» ‎ Finger Licking Food

Chocolate Chip Cookies

19:39
Tofu, Sesame, Spinach, Miso: A recipe for a great combination
» ‎ A Life (Time) of Cooking

Once upon a time, eons ago, in the days when I lived in Sydney and my daughter was not far away, I cooked a dinner of immense simplicity and extraordinary flavours. It was a celebration dinner, being admitted to the (in legal terms) bar is no small thing, and my daughter had celebrated long into [...]

8:12
Venthiyakeerai/Methi/Fenugreek Sadam/Rice
» ‎ S A R A' S C O R N E R

This weekend has been Venthiyakeerai week for me, picked fresh leaves when visited Little India. Dishes I made was almost with Venthiyakeerai/Methi/Fenugreek leaves like Chapathi, Veg. Pulav and Simple Rice was quite healthy. This recipe is from my Mom who makes it so tasty. When I use to work before marraige this recipe was mostly prepared for my lunch box since I love mixed/colour rice. Hope

7:57
Yummilicious Cinnamon Toast (An awesome treat for a lunch box)
» ‎ Food-n-More

Call it Cinnamon Toast, French Toast , Eggy Bread or anything else it is just as delicious and you cannot just stop at one. At least I can't. I have loved this bread snack since I was about 9 or 10 and now that my son loves it just as much I am glad to make it for the two of us (or sometimes even for hubby if we leave any for him) on a Sunday morning or sometimes as a lunch box treat.

It's the easiest thing to make, almost embarrassingly easy actually to blog about but I love it so much that it has to have a place on my blog. You can make it as simple or as rich as you like. And make it with plain bread or a speciality bread, the choice is yours.

This time I used Brioche instead of plain ordinary white bread. Brioche is a sweet buttery french bread that tastes awesome even when eaten all by itself with a strong cup of coffee or it is one of the best bases for something like this Cinnamon toast or a rich Brioche Butter Pudding. It's available easily in the bakery section in the form of a loaf or there are packs of 6 small brioche loaves.

I used a combination of Cinnamon and Vanilla in my toast which went beautifully together, but to give it an Indian touch you could use Cardammom or Nutmeg powder and a bit of Saffron essence. These spices taste great too. My mom used to make it with Cardammom.

What you need:
6 thick slices of Brioche
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup milk
4 to 5 tspns sugar
1/2 tspn cinnammon powder,
1 tblspn vanilla essence
Some sugar to sprinkle on top
Butter or oil for lightly frring the toast

Method:
Mix together the milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla and pour this mixture out into a shallow dish . This makes it easy to dip the bread slices into the batter and soak the mixture.
Heat a frying pan or a skillet or tawa and coat it generously with butter or oil.
When the pan is hot, dip a slice of bread on both sides into the egg milk mixture and put it on the pan. The pan should be hot enough so that there is a sizzling sound . Lower the heat to medium after a minute so that the bread cooks to a beautiful golden colour without burning.
Turn the toast over to the other side and cook this side until golden and crisp as well.
Do all the slices in the same way.
While each toast is still hot sprinkle sugar on it.

That's it . Your Crispy Golden Cinnamon Toast is ready for you to enjoy.

March 08, 2010
23:58
Diet Program ~ Weekly updates
» ‎ Spice your Life

I know I haven't updated for the entire week last. Except couple of times that I cheated, I tried following the regime.

Breakfast is mostly soup with bread slices
Lunch mostly phulkas with dal/sambar with vegetables.
Two times buttermilk and lemon juice when I can squeeze which was about two times in a week. This is bad I know.
Evening 1 fruit either Apple/ 1 big bowl of pomegranate
by 7.30 pm - legume salad
by 8.30 pm- bread slices

Twice in the last week I eat Banana for breakfast.
Twice I had paneer for protein.
Once I made Goduma Dosa and another time Sadda Roti which was very filling.
I even had a chapati for dinner last night.

Of course I cheated on the weekend as I was not able to manage otherwise.

Athamma made a new soup with Jowar, which was excellent and very filling. Will make it again and post it.

I guess overall I have managed to control my calorie count. Will have to increase my exercise factor.

Sorry I haven't been able to check on everybody who have got on this diet, do share how your diet program is going on?

19:00
Keerai Kootu with Moong Dal
» ‎ S A R A' S C O R N E R

Keerai Kootu is a traditional recipe of Tamil Brahmin. You can use any type of greens. The Kootu which I posted before is also different from this. Ingredients Spinach/Greens - 1 bunch Paasi Paruppu/Moong Dal - 1 cup Fresh Grated Coconut - 1 cup Dry Red Chilli - 3 nos (As per your taste) Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tspn Salt For Seasoning/Tempering Oil - 1 tspn Mustard - 1/4 tspn Urad Dal - 1/2 tspn

14:29
APPLE RASAM
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen
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I had bookmarked this rasam recipe a longtime back from Viki's blog. This turned out great. This rasam was kind of soup and both sweet and sour taste. I tweaked Viki’s recipe a little bit and grated the apples and added it to the rasam. I also used very little tamarind since I had used a tart granny smith apple and this added enough sourness to the rasam. The tamarind can be entirely omitted too if needed. This is my version of Viki's apple rasam.

INGREDIENTS:
1. Green apple or any tart apples,1.
2. Tamarind, very little, a small gooseberry sized ball. (optional).
3. Rasam powder (homemade or store bought). 1 teaspoon.
4. Asafetida, 1 pinch.
5. Mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon.
6. Cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon.
7. Red chilies, 2, (optional).
8. Garlic, 3 cloves.
9. Thalipu vadagam, ½ teaspoon, (optional).
10. Salt as per taste.
11. Curry leaves and chopped cilantro for garnishing.
PREPARATION:

Soak the tamarind in warm water for 15 minutes and extract thick juice from it. Grate the apples, dice the tomatoes finely, and crush the garlic coarsely. Heat a pot with a teaspoon of oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the cumin seeds, red chilies, and vadagam and fry for a few seconds. Now reduce the flame to low and add the diced tomatoes and crushed garlic and sauté for a few minutes until everything is well blended. Add the grated apples and let it cook for 5-10 minutes until the apples are cooked. Add 3 cups of water, salt, asafetida, and tamarind juice and let it come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, add the rasam powder, curry leaves, and chopped cilantro. Mix everything just once and switch off the stove. Serve with rice and any spicy side dish.

Gita's Kitchen

9:36
Savoury vegetable cake
» ‎ Creative saga...

I was intending to bake a savoury version of a cake for a very long time. As I always try to make my cakes healthy and of low calories, I wanted my savoury cake to be the same so that we could have a...

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8:35
Pappa Al Pomodoro
» ‎ Tangerine's Kitchen Hangout!

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes was what we at the Book Club read this February. In my case, I found the book only last week and finished reading it only a couple of days back. So I am really really late in posting this.

The book got me hooked to Tuscany. Her writing gave me a feeling of being in person in most instances cited. The beauty of the land is beautifully described in the book making the place seem very enchanting. This book is about Mayes buying a villa in Tuscany and spending a lot on refurnishing it. Her recipes and her delicious decriptions of food are somethign I loved in the book. A friend of mine who read this following mine says it is the only book she didn't regret for reading it entirely...

As for me, just like the author I think Italian food is lovely. I know Italian food as in pasta, pizza et al.. but I have never made a soup or a Zuppa. This place has a lot of recipes to offer and I have made several of them. The Tuscan bread, rolled bell peppers, calamari salad and their rosemary buns to name few. This time I chose the Pappa Al Pomodoro Di Francesca all courtesy a bunch of tomatoes that had lost their firmness.
The recipe was followed as is on the site minus the use of bread.

The soup was creamy and thick.Since I didn't have fresh basil, i had to make do with dried ones. It was not spicy for my palate but I found my comfort in this soup. Croutons would have lent a better flavour but I don't like soggy bread in my soup!!!

Check here to see what the other book clubbers were inspired to cook inspired by the book...Subscribe to my space!

7:35
Cinamon Raisin Pecan Nuts Bread
» ‎ My Kitchen Treasures

Cinamon Raisin Pecan Nuts Bread

7:10
J.A. Henckels 17-Piece Knife Block Set for $70 Shipped
» ‎ Spicy Tasty

Amazon offer this J.A. Henckels International Fine Edge Synergy 17-Piece Knife Block Set for $70 shipped.

I’ve already posted about this knife set. It’s a great Knife block set. It has some very good reviews in amazon.

Product Description:
The J.A. Henckels International Fine Edge Synergy 17 pc Block Set features all the essential knives you need for a variety of kitchen tasks. The blades are constructed from stamped stainless steel and are hand honed for a long lasting cutting edge. The contoured santoprene handles are brushed with stainless steel for a remarkably comfortable and secure grip. Includes 2 3/4″ Paring Knife, 6″ Utility, 5 1/2″ Boning knife, 8″ Chef’s, 8″ Carver, 8″ Bread, 7″ Hollow Edge Santoku, 9″ Steel, 8 - 4 1/2″ Stamped Steak Knives, and black Storage Block. Dishwasher safe (not recommended by J.A. Henckels International) Full warranty.

Hurry before the offer ends!!

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March 07, 2010
23:11
Venthayakeerai/Methi Chapathi
» ‎ S A R A' S C O R N E R

Venthayakeerai/Methi/Fenugreek leaves is very good for health. Chapathis with them tastes great. I love Venthayakeerai inspite of its slight bitterness. When I saw Yasmeen's Bitter Better health and Divya's Spinach Event made this.IngredientsWheat Flour - 2 cupsFresh / Dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi) - 1-2tspns (See notes)Olive Oil - 1 tspnWaterSaltPreparation MethodIn a wide bowl, put all

17:58
Coconut Rice
» ‎ Spicy Tasty
Coconut rice is one of the easiest variety rice dish in South Indian recipes. Especially it’s an most famous lunch box dish. I love all types of variety rices like lemon rice, tamarind rice, tomato rice and coconut rice.

When we got married, my husband and I discovered that we had varied taste in food. But we found ourselves agreeing on one dish - “coconut rice”. So sentimentally it’s our favorite dish .

It is so easy to make when you are out of vegetables in your kitchen and wondering what to make for lunch/dinner today. Eat with some potato fry trust me it tastes too good.
Ingredients:
- Shredded Coconut - 1 cup
- Cooked rice : 2 cups
- Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
- Cooking oil : 1 tbsp
- Urad dal : 2 tsp
- Channa dal : 2 tbsp
- Curry leaves : 4-5
- Ginger : 1tbsp (chopped)
- Green chilies : 3- 4(chopped)
- Papad : 2 (cooked)
Method Of Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and after it sputters add urad dal and chana dal.
2. When it turns light brown add ginger, curry leaves and green chilies.
3. Fry them for a minute and then add shredded coconut.
4. Just let it sit in the heat for few minutes (2-3 minutes).
5. Then remove from heat and add the mixture into the cooked rice. Mix it well.
6. Fry the papad in oil or microwave it and crush them into pieces.
7. Mix them into them coconut rice.
8. Serve it hot with some pickle and papad.
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Post tags: Rice dishes, veggie

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5:18
Activities with Kids ~ Paintings with Oil Pastels.
» ‎ Spice your Life

Finally after many months and Konda asking me for sometime, we sat down to paint. She wanted me to show her how to draw and choose this Chinnu's favorite bed cover featuring Tiger and Bear. I thought the tiger looks very cute!

I drew it and Konda painted it with Oil pastels. She was really thrilled doing this. Maybe we should do this more often.

Hope the weekend was fun!

2:12
Pears in Red Wine
» ‎ Served with love

Anyone who has set up their house from scratch will nod in agreement when I say that setting up a house is a labour of love.

But when you buy a huge villa which happens to be in a foreign country whose language you are not fluent at and moreover, when the said villa is dilapidated and has been abandoned for a long time and you set about remodelling and restoring it, the labour and the love (and the money) it demands from you multiplies many times over.

Under The Tuscan Sun, the book club's choice this month, chronicles the author Frances Mayes' first four years in Italy. At its heart is the villa Bramasole that she and her partner, Ed purchase. Though it is completely run down from years of neglect, they dream of turning it into their home. With both of them working full-time in San Francisco, the going is very tough. Amid trips back and forth every summer and winter, they have to wade their way through a labyrinth of work: from negotiations with contractors, liaising with the workers through faxes and telephones to finally rolling up their sleeves to get the work done in time to host a friend's wedding, as a reader, you really do feel very impressed at their effort and commitment in restoring Bramasole's splendour.

However, after a point, reading about the work in progress (or the lack of progress) does get tedious. Fortunately, her memoirs do go beyond the villa renovation - as she travels into the area around Cortona, she paints a very beautiful and vivid picture of the region and delves into the history and culture of Tuscany. Sadly, her impressions of Italians and their life cling to the oft repeated cliches and while it is very interesting to read about the Etruscan civilisation, a different and scarcely known aspect of Italian history, after a point in time, the repeated references to the Etruscans made it seem like she was plain obsessed with them.

I started reading the book with a lot of enthusiasm because going to Tuscany has been on my wish list for long. However, towards the last third of the book, I found it quite laborious to plod through the pages. And had it not been a book club read, I am certain I would have stopped reading it!

Her prose is beautiful, lyrical almost and her philosophical introspections are definitely thought provoking. My favourite parts of the book were where she takes the reader through the markets in Cortona, lined with freshly picked fruit and vegetables and when she dips bread into a bowl olive oil extracted from olive plucked out of their land. The bounty of the land and the sheer labour it takes to put something on the table really shine through in these parts of the book.

Which brings me to the food: plenty and more of it, till you would almost get indigestion and heartburn just from reading! The recipes, earthy and simple to make, are divided into summer and winter in keeping with the seasonality of ingredients.

Poaching pears in red wine is something I have been wanting to do for a long time. I didn't use the recipe in the book as I didn't quite fancy the idea of using currants with the pears. Instead I picked up a few ideas from a couple of websites to come up with this method.
The red wine poached pears look stunning and are ridiculously easy to make. Make these a day or two ahead of time, so that the pears can absorb all the flavours from the spices; also the colour intensifies with time.

Ingredients:
Pears: 2
Red wine*: 400 ml (I used merlot, but having made these, I would highly recommend a marsala)Sugar: 1/2 cup
Cinnamon: a 2" pieceGinger: 1" piece, juliennedStar anise: 1Crushed peppercorn: 1/2 tspVanilla pod: 1, split lengthwiseLemon zest: 1 tsp
(*for those who don't use alcohol, substitute the wine with grape juice and cranberry juice in the ratio of 2:1 and add a couple of tbsps of balsamic vinegar when making the syrup).

Method:
Put the red wine, sugar and all the spices into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer till the sugar dissolves.
Meanwhile, peel the pears, cut off a small disc from the bottom so that the pears can stand upright. Do leave the stalks on.
Place the pears upright into the wine; they should be completely submerged into the wine. Simmer for a further 20-30 minutes or until they are cooked through, such that a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the pear goes through easily.
Let the pears cool and then refrigerate them. Just before serving, remove the pears from the liquid, then reduce the liquid till it reaches a syrupy consistency.
Slice the pears, drizzle the syrup over them and serve with some vanilla ice cream.

Here's what the other book clubbers made:Sweatha made Basil Mint Sorbet, Ann made a pizza with onion confit, grilled sausage and peppers and Simran made Caponata.

Next month, we are reading a chic-lit, Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella. Drop a line to Simran - bombayfoodie(at)gmail(dot)com if you'd like to join us.

March 05, 2010
23:17
Announcing Bread Baking Day #28: Buns
» ‎ Tangerine's Kitchen Hangout!

Bread Baking Day (BBD) #28 is hosted right here at Tangerine's Kitchen for the month of March. BBD #20 was hosted here with the theme, multigrain bread which had an overwhelming response. BBD is an event created by Zorra and each month has seen some great themes. For BBD #28 , the theme is Bread Buns.
A bun is a bread sized small. It can be sweet or savory. Usually domed with a flat bottomed surface, it can be plain, filled or topped . It can also be steamed as in Chinese cuisines. Since easter is approaching and most homes would be making hot cross buns, this theme is apt for the month. So all that is required is to make buns. They could be sweet or savory, plain or filled. Fillings can be veg or non-veg. Or rather still you could just top the buns with candied fruits or just sugar. The possibilities are endless.
So just bake a bun (s) from today until April 1. If you have a non-English blog, do send me a translation of your post and I will include it in the roundup. If you are a non-blogger, do mail me with the necessary details and your entries will be included.

Once you are done with the post, do send me an email at tangerineskitchen(at)gmail(dot)com with the following details:

Subject line should read BBD#28

Your Name

Your location

The name of the bread and the post url

The name of your blog and the url

A picture of the bread 250px wide

The deadline is April 1. Feel free to promote this on your blog.
Do use the logo if you wish to and let the entries come in as soon as possible. Happy Baking!

BBD #27 hosted at Canela and Comino has a wonderful roundup of interesting Pan Latino breads.Subscribe to my space!

13:40
Sai Bhaji/Spinach and Mixed Vegetable Curry
» ‎ Spicy Tasty
Sai Bhaji is a typical Sindhi food. The greens and veggies in it make it a healthy meal choice. I went to my cousin’s place for the vacation. She made this sai bhaji for me and it was very tasty…

It is also very nutritious and it is easy to make. So I tried it and it has come out really well.

Ingridients:
- Channa dal : 200g
- Cumin seeds : 1 tsp
- Garlic : 5 cloves
- Methi leaves : 1/2 bunch
- Onions : 2(medium size) chopped
- Tomatoes : 2 chopped
- Carrot : 1(small cube size)
- Beans : 10(chopped)
- Potato : 1(large cube size)
- Bottle gourd : 200g(large cube size)(optional)
- Spinach :1/2 bunch
- Oil : 2 tsp
Masala:
- Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp
- Chilli powder : 2 tsp
- Coriander powder : 2 tsp
- Cumin powder : 1 tsp
- Salt : to taste
Method of Preparation:
1. Soak the channa dal for half an hour.
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds.
3. Then add garlic and methi leaves followed by onions.
4. Fry the onions till they become translucent and then add the tomatoes.
5. Then add all the vegetables one by one and add all the masala powders.
6. Finally add the spinach and sautee for few minutes.
7. Then drain the channa dal and add that to the mixture.
8. Pour some water and pressure pressure cook it.
9. Check that the water is not excess.
10. After pressure cooked open the lid and smash everything so they form a thick gravy.
11. Serve hot with chappathis.
Note:

We can add any vegetables with carrots and beans. Instead of methi leaves we can add kasuri methi.

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Post tags: curry, gravies, side-dish, side-dishes, veggies

Tags: curry, gravies, side-dish, side-dishes, veggies

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9:23
Garlic Butter Naan - Simply delicious
» ‎ # Tasty Recipes

NAAN' , a leavened Indian flatbread, is made with yeast and all purpose flour with/without flavorings and is made in tandoor. It bears a resemblance to pita, but is softer in texture. In Persia the word 'Naan' literally means "Bread".

Though i wanted to post this recipe for a long time, but as i could never click the step by step pictures, so couldn't post it till now. This time too ; its not all perfect but still better. First time before making these delicious garlic naan's ,I browsed the net a lot for all the possible ways of cooking them; in tandoor, oven or stove top. Tandoor one is obviously the best and the correct way, but that couldn't be done at home. And out of the other two, i felt that stove top one gave better results, more softer and more tandoor like cooked. So i made these naan over the stove and believe me, they come out perfect everytime.

I sticked to yeast as I simply love the dough getting double in volume and the aroma of yeast that fills the whole house. Also i wanted to make it as perfect as possible, we don't make them often at home , so whenever we make it should be a treat, all perfect... isin't it.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour 3 cups
Active dry yeast 1 tsp
Warm water 2/3 cup
Sugar 1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves(cilantro)
1/2 tsp Kalonji (onion seeds)
Salt to taste

Garlic-butter topping:
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp minced garlic

Method:

Take warm water; mix yeast, salt and sugar in it until the yeast has dissolved. Set aside for 10mins till the yeast gets activated(forms a froth).
Sift the flour and add coriander leaves , mix well.
Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture.
Mix well to make a soft dough. Add more warm water if required.
Knead for 3-4mins. Cover with a cloth or plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place for about 2 to 3 hrs till the dough doubles in volume.

Now punch the dough again for 2- 3 more minutes .
Make balls from the dough and roll them. Roll them into a oblong with a rolling pin dusting with flour.
Sprinkle kalonji over it, press a bit.(optional)

Cooking over stove top:

Heat the pan on high.
Apply a little water on one side of the naan (uncooked naan only) .
Put the naan on the tava(avoid non stick pan), with the wet side down. Press it slighly with a cloth or a napkin, so as to stick it on the pan.
Within seconds , you can see small bubbles, turn the pan upside down, so as the naan is over the direct fire.
Cook it rotating the pan a bit , so as to cook the naan uniformally all over.
Check for brown spots. The naan starts to fall down by its own when cooked.
Turn the pan again and apply garlic butter mixture over the charred cooked side.
Serve hot with any curry of your choice.

Tips:

Do not make them too thick as they puff up when baked.
For oblong shape, roll it circular and while putting on the hot griddle pull it from one side to get the shape.
If using oven, set to broiler and place the Naan on a baking sheet, top the naan with some butter and put it inside the broiler. Check for dark spots, turn and repeat the procedure.

8:36
Cashew Biscotti with chocolate glaze
» ‎ Welcome to my kitchen treats

This is going to be my first homemade Biscotti. Biscotti is an all time favorite at our house. I have been meaning to make this from a long long time. The time was just right few days back, when I had all ingredients and the memory that I had to make this :) I got the recipe from 'Joy of Baking' and was surprised to know it didn't require butter or oil. Just flour, sugar, eggs and the rest of the usual baking ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 cup (145 grams) unsalted cashews, toasted and chopped coarsely
1 teaspoon (5 grams)baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/ 2 teaspoon orange extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 300 F(150 C)
Line baking sheet with parchment paper
In a small bowl, beat the eggs and extracts together
In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (except the nuts) for 30 seconds
Then gradually add the egg mixture along with the cashews
Mix until the dough comes together (It will be probably a gooey sticky dough)
Transfer the dough directly to the baking pan (the dough can be too gooey sticky to roll it on a separate surface and then transfer, hence its better to do the flattening or rolling on the prepared baking pan.
Roll the dough about 14 inches (35 cm) long and 3-4 inches (8-10 cm) wide and and bake for 30-40 minutes until firm to touch (Log will spread during baking)
Cool it on a wire rack about 10 minutes.
Transfer log to a cutting board and using a serrated knife, cut it into 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick on the diagonal.
Arrange the slices on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Flip over and bake for another 10 minutes.
Cool on wired rack

Once cooled prepare the chocolate glaze:

Ingredients:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon butter

Method:

Melt both the ingredients over a pot of simmering water (double boiler method). Dip the biscotti on one side in the glaze and keep the glazed side facing up on a baking sheet. Repeat the step for all biscotti. Transfer to refrigerator to firm up the chocolate glaze. Enjoy !

8:30
Fried Chilly Chicken.
» ‎ My Kitchen Treasures

Fried Chilly Chicken.

March 04, 2010
21:27
Wheat Noodles in a Schezwan Sauce
» ‎ Finger Licking Food

Wheat Noodles in a Schezwan Sauce

15:22
POONDU OORUKAI/GARLIC PICKLE
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen

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Homemade pickles are a great way to cut down sodium in diets. These are much better than the store-brought ones loaded with salt, preservatives, and oil. These days even a couple of weight loss programs recommend a low-sodium diet. If you are at a risk of getting diabetes or pre-diabetes or even if you have a stressful job, cutting down excess salt intake is also very important with along cutting down on refined foods. Lately, we have also been cutting down on sodium. I didn’t make any major changes in our diet except that we go for the unsalted version of nuts and chips and always look for the low-salt version of any foods we buy. I also started using sea salt instead of regular table salt for the past few months. Sea salt is a naturally low in sodium and moreover just a little of this can be added in places where larger amount of salt is used. The only thing I cannot control is our intake of pickles, especially my hubby’s :(….he needs to have pickle with every meal, so I started making pickles like garlic, tomato and mango pickle in batches and now we are having them instead of our usual ones. I saw some recipes for garlic pickles in a couple of sites and this is my own version of this pickle. I love this pickle with mixed rice varieties, particularly with briyanis.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Garlic cloves, around 10-12 if bigger cloves are used.

2. Sesame oil, ½ cup.

3. Sea salt, 1 teaspoon.

4. Chili powder or paprika powder, 2 teaspoons.

5. Mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon.

6. Lemon juice, ¼ cup.

7. Curry leaves, a spring.

8. Crushed jaggery, 1 teaspoon. (optional). The pickle tastes good even without the jaggery.

9. Asafetida, ¼ teaspoon.

To roast and grind:

1. Fenugreek seeds, 2 tablespoons.

2. Coriander seeds, 2 tablespoons.

3. Mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon.

PREPARATION:

Roast the ingredients given under the roast and grind category and grind everything into a smooth powder and keep aside. If bigger cloves of garlic are used, slice them into even pieces. Heat a pan with the sesame oil. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter when the oil turns hot. Then reduce the flame and add the garlic, curry leaves, salt, all the ground powders, chili powder, salt, and asafetida and mix everything well. Let it cook for 10 minutes under low flame until the garlic is cooked. Then add the lemon juice and jaggery and cook for a few more minutes and switch off the stove. Transfer into airtight containers once cooled. This pickle can stay fresh for up to 3-4 weeks when stored in the refrigerator. It can be had as a side dish with rice, idlis, dosas, and chapathis.
Gita's Kitchen

10:37
Raw plantain coconut dry curry (Ethakka thoran)
» ‎ Welcome to my kitchen treats
I don't remember when was the first time I ate this dish. But sure enough it captured its place in my mind. After marriage, until now, I always used to either fry the chips of Raw plantain or make a simple curry with just salt and little water. I wanted to make something else with it and hence remembered the coconut version of this curry. In malayalam, when grated coconut is added to any vegetable to make a dry curry, it is either called mezhukkupuratty (മെഴുക്കുപുരട്ടി ) or thoran (തോരന്‍), mostly thoran.

Thoran is a versatile dish as it can be altered to use a variety of vegetables, like cabbage, spinach, carrot, beans, or combination of vegetables. The main ingredient common to all thoran is grated coconut.

Here is the recipe:
1. Raw plantain cut into small thin square slices. (Before you cut a raw plantain, scrub the outside skin lightly for removing dirt, make sure you have a big bowl of water to put the slices in. ) : 1 medium sized plantain
2. Grated coconut : 3/4 cup
3. Turmeric : a pinch
4. Red chilli powder : 1 teaspoon
5. Garlic minced : 2 cloves
6. Tampering: 1 teaspoon each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, urad lentil
7. Pinch of asafoetida
8. Salt
9. Water : just enough to cover the plantain slices while being cooked
Method:

Usually with other vegetables used in thoran, water is not used , and most of the times, all the ingredients (except the tampering) is pre-mixed and cooked together. But since raw plantain requires a longer cooking time, it is cooked until tender with a pinch of salt and very little water.
1. Cook the plantain in very little water (just enough to cover the slices) until soft and tender.
2. Wait until the water is all absorbed (the heat can be stepped up a notch , to quicken the process, but keep an eye to prevent any burning of the plantain)
3. Now mix the plantain with coconut, garlic, turmeric, red chilli powder, and salt . Combine everything well with hands, taking care not to mush the plantain slices.
4. Now add a teapoon of oil to a hot pan, lower the heat, add the tampering and asafoetida. Saute for 5 seconds. Then add the plantain coconut mixture.
5. Stir well to combine everything.
6. Close the pan with a lid, keep fire on medium. Wait for everything to be cooked and allow the flavors to combine.
7. After 2 minutes, open the lid and combine everything again, at this point check for salt. Close the lid, increase heat to medium -high for 30 seconds. This is to get a nice light caramalized coating on the thoran. Switch off the heat, Open the lid, give everything a final stir , put the lid back on. Best served when hot.

10:20
Pasta with broccoli and mushrooms and an event
» ‎ Creative saga...

Macaroni/pasta would be one of the snacks served by mom when we came from school. We used to be so hungry and our plate would be empty in minutes. How we use to just love this!!! The preperation was...

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9:49
Spiced Indian Tea
» ‎ Welcome to my kitchen treats
One of the favorite morning routines for me the past few months is to try various ways of spicing up the morning cup of tea. I prefer tea to coffee. I was drawn to the idea of spicing up the tea when one morning we were out of milk (I always love my tea with milk and sugar ('Equal' sweetener to be precise) , or maybe milk and honey), I decided to satisfy myself with the Chamomile flavoured Green Tea (I love to have these herbal teas without milk and sugar though) and V was more than willing to have his favourite cup of coffee :D . Why I wrote the phrase 'more than willing' is because, he prefers coffee to tea , but joins the tea session with me during morning time, for company sake ;)

I then remembered that I had those 'Indian Chai flavour' herbal tea bags. They smelled so nice. Checking the ingredients didn't help much as the trade secret word 'and various other spices' wasn't clear. It was then that I decided to try making my own fresh tea masala. On our next Indian grocery shopping, I purchased whatever spice I knew (cardomom, star anise, dry ginger root, ajwain, aniseed). The only other ingredient that I forgot from the to-buy list was Lemongrass. It was at one of our cousin's place that I had this Lemongrass flavoured tea which our cousin bought it from Mumbai, India. I could never get that delicate flavor of lemongrass infused tea out of my mind since then. Lemongrass has this delicate gingery smell, almost like fresh cut ginger.The dry stalks you get in the grocery shops such as 'Stop and Shop', Shaws etc.. are extremely high : $6.00 for 2 dry stalks, the size of my small finger ! I was almost about to order it online, but it almost came up to the same price. Then one day when we went to this Chinese grocery shop, I luckily remembered about Lemongrass and promptly asked the owner, and there she got me, two long fresh stalks of Lemongrass just for $1.50 . I was thrilled ! From that day onwards my teas always spoke a different story ;)

Let me share how I spice up my tea:

Makes 2 cups of tea

Ingredients:
- Lemongrass minced : Any part of the lemon grass is edible, so dont throw away the outer leavy covering. I cut a small disc from the top of the stalk. Thats more than enough to spice up two cups of tea.
- Fresh ginger minced : 1/2 teaspoon
- Star anise or fennel seed (optional): 1/2 teaspoon
- Cardomom : 1 whole
- Tea leaf powder (Tea bag) : 3 teaspoons (vary according to your taste) I use the Red Label (Orange Pekoe) brand.
- Water : 1 cup
- Milk : 1 cup
- Sugar : 2 teaspoons or 2 packets 'Equal'
Method:
1. In a vessel, boil 1 cup of water and add Lemongrass, Ginger, Star anise or fennel seeds, and Cardomom and reduce the heat to low. Close it with a lid. Let this mixture simmer for 15 seconds
2. Then add the tea leaf powder (bags) and out the lid back. Let it simmer for 20 seconds.
3. Now add the milk and let it sit for 10 seconds without the lid on low fire. After 10 seconds, turn up the heat to high and wait until the milk starts boiling, then lower heat to medium until the milk is just on the verge of boiling, but doesn't boil over. Wait for 3 seconds, this gives it the strong color to the tea.
4. Switch off the heat, add sugar and pour it into cups. Enjoy !

7:35
Lemongrass Iced Tea
» ‎ Served with love

There are certain bloggers that I am envious of. There, I said it.

Ah...you are curious. Why, you wonder?

Because of the comments they receive, you guess. Because of the followers they have, you are sure.

Well, NO.

Then, WHY? The question resounds loudly.

If you have been blog hopping, you would have noticed how some of the bloggers are going on and on about spring. That spring is at their doorstep, that they can just feel it in the air.

And here in Singapore, the weather is oppressively HOT! On a good day, the temperature is 31 deg C. Most of the other days, we are roasting under a balmy 34 deg C!
So tell me, can you fault me for feeling envious of all those bloggers talking about the onset of spring, my favourite season?

Yes, being a equatorial country, Singapore does not have any seasons. It is hot and humid all year round. That said, this last fortnight has been particularly hot and dry. Some evenings, dark clouds gather and obscure the sun, and we think, at last, there'll be some rain today, some respite from the unending heat. I stretch my hand out of the window and strain my ears to hear the sound of thunder - but, nothing! The sun is back in its full glory and I am left wiping the small droplets of sweat from my face!

With the humidity and heat the way it is, sipping water frequently is essential. But then, there are times when I need something more than just water to beat the heat. Sometimes, it is a glass of juice, other times, this dried roselle iced tea, sometimes, nothing but a tall glass of strawberry shake will do.

My favourite, however, is this lemongrass iced tea. These days, I brew some tea early in the morning and keeping sipping it through the day.

Not much of a recipe, but here's what I do.

Take 2 stalks of lemongrass for one glass of tea. Cut off an inch from the root and peel off the fibrous outer layers to reveal the pinkish-white inner stalk. Run a rolling pin over the length of the stalk to release the flavours and then chop it up into 1" long pieces.

Add these to water and bring it to a boil, simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off the gas, drop in a tea bag, cover and let it steep for 2-3 mins, after which discard only the tea bag. Cut a kaffir lime leaf into thin strips and add these to the tea, cover and allow to steep till it reaches room temperature. Strain and pour over plenty of ice cubes.
(Lemongrass has a very delicate flavour, so do use a very light tea or else the flavour of the tea will overpower that of the lemongrass).

Squeeze in few drops of lime juice and sweeten with some sugar syrup or honey. I prefer to use honey. Garnish with some juliennes of kaffir lime leaves and a slice of lime.

Before you rush to sip it, inhale the aroma - lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves and tea leaves - the aroma is itself is refreshing! A great way to beat that heat!!

This delightfully refreshing and aromatic lemongrass iced tea with is on its way to The Well Seasoned Cook, Susan, the host this week for WHB - 223, event started by Kalyn and currently run by Haalo.
Also sending this to Madhuri who is hosting Serve Me Some: Juices, Shakes and Smoothies

7:33
A no-bake Lemon Cheesecake using an easy homemade cream cheese
» ‎ Tangerine's Kitchen Hangout!

Cheesecake is a much loved dessert and if the menu at a restaurant has "blueberry cheesecake" then I am sure to order it. Almost every cheesecake differs from the other. This is what I make quite often but a change was needed this time. I made my own version with home made cream cheese that requires no overnight draining.

It is a plain cheesecake with hints of lemon in the form of lemon zest and rind. This requires no baking. Only the base needs baking. It is refrigerated for firmness.

What you need for this are: For a 9" Cake
For the base

Biscuit Crumbs-1 and 1/2 C
Toasted Walnuts (Crumbled)- 1/2 C
Butter-3 T

Melt the butter and add in the biscuit and walnut crumbs. This results in a coarse mixture. Line a tin with this mixture and press it to make it smooth. Bake this in a preheated oven (150 degree C) for 10 minutes. Allow it to cool.

For the cheese filling

Fresh Cream- 3 C
Grated Paneer / Indian Cottage Cheese- 3 C
Gelatine-30 g
Lime Juice-3T
Lemon rind-1 T
Cold Water- 1 C
Eggs-2
Confectioners Sugar-2 C

Whizz the cream and paneer. Beat the egg yolks with half the amount of sugar to a creamy consistency. Add in the cream, paneer, lime juice and the zest. Stir in the melted gelatine. In another bowl beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until peaks form. Fold this slowly into the creamy mixture. Pour this over the biscuit base. Cover and refrigerate until it sets firm. This one firmed in two hours.

Topping.
Left to one's choice. Mine was a sprinkling of chocolate shavings followed by a layer of strawberry syrup glaze.

An easy desert that can be prepared in advance with no need for cream cheese that are priced exorbitantly in India. With an array of flavours possible, this could satiate that craving of this decadent dessert. And this cream cheese would get anyone thinking twice of buying cream cheese from a store... The hope for Haiti is still on until this saturday. There are a lot of great prizes you could bid on, which could also benefit the victims of the earthquake.

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March 03, 2010
17:00
Methi Mutter Product Review
» ‎ S A R A' S C O R N E R

Methi Mutter is one of the favourite gravy for chapathis. I just prepared this with Gits Heat n Eat. As you can see this is the delicious side dish for Indian Breads. Our family just loved it and enjoyed a lot with chapathis/tortillas. As Kini said in the previous review this is not just enough.Enjoy this tasty gravy.

12:33
Simple Vanilla Cupcake
» ‎ Welcome to my kitchen treats
Its been a while since I baked a cake in the oven. In fact I never baked one in our brand new toaster oven. So I decided to venture into the world of baking cakes in an oven once again after a gap of almost one year. I wanted to start on a healthy note, and I was in a dilemma to choose from the various recipes that use healthy substitutions when it comes to the ingredients that go into the cake batter. Finally I decided on a recipe from Joy Of Baking where I substituted a portion of the All Purpose Flour (Maida) for White whole wheat flour and I skipped the frosting part as both me and V dont enjoy eating frosting, maybe just enjoy viewing it ;-). I did not want to risk this attempt and disappoint myself my ruining the whole batter because of a lot of substitutions. Hence starting with a small attempt of the same for baking healthy. I also wanted to start with something small so that the left-over or wastage remains minimal. Cupcakes suited my needs, hence here I am with the Simple Vanilla Cupcake.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Orange extract or zest of 1 large lemon (optional)
- 1 cup of all purpose flour + 1/2 cup of white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (if using salted butter, skip this)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
Puffing...Puffing...

Trrrringgg....(the sound of the timer on the toaster oven) indicating...its Done :)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 Degrees C)
2. Line a 12 cup muffin pan (I had to use a 6 cup muffin pan two times due to the space constraints in my toaster oven)
3. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy
4. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and orange extract/lemon zest
5. In a separate bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt
6. Add the flour and milk in alternate steps to the egg mixture in a way that it begins and ends with flour. While mixing the batter, use a floding action to combine all ingredients. If using a mixer, use it at low speed and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed
7. Evenly fill the muffin cups (each cup can be upto half full because if you overfill the batter in the muffin cup, the cupcake will have a alien spaceship like appearance ;-) and there are chances that you will have to clean up a gooey mess later)
8. Keep in the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes
Enjoy :)

12:19
Spicy Chicken Burgers (Simply delightful and very satisfying)
» ‎ Food-n-More

Hi everyone! I am so glad to be posting again. Last week was a good week food-wise . I tried out a few new recipes and they turned out pretty neat. One of them was this burger recipe that was a complete hit. Recently I have taken to watching re-runs of 30 Minute Meals by Rachel Ray and there is something about that show that really inspires me to just get up and spend time in the kitchen trying out recipes. It's probably Rachel enthusiasm on the show and the very homly no-fuss dinners that she makes that I find very appealing. So a few days back I saw her cook some burgers and cole slaw and I decided then that I wanted to cook burgers for dinner too. I already had chicken in the fridge. But I also wanted really spicy burgers.So I surfed the net for some good burger recipes and was completely impressed by a recipe put up by Kevin on his blog Closet Cooking. Its a fab idea to use curry powder for burgers. My family just loved these burgers, so thanks Kevin for a great recipe.I tweaked it a bit here and there to suit my taste and it came out awesome.
What you need:500 gms chicken mince (you could buy chicken breast and mince it in your processor)4 spring onions finely chopped,1 cup finely chopped coriander1 tblspn minced ginger1 tblspn minced garlic1 cup bread crumbs2 tspns lemon zest,4 tspns hot curry powder,2 tspns chilly powder,2 to 3 tblspns tomato ketchupsalt to taste
To assemble the burger you need:Burger Buns,Mayonnaise,LettuceTomato slicesCheese slicesKetchup or Hot Jalapeno RelishMethod:Mix all the above ingredients well , but do not overmix. Use a gentle hand. This prevents the chicken patties from drying out. Shape them into equal sized patties shallow fry for 10 to 12 mins turning them once over half-way through.Assemble the burgers as you like and enjoy with some oven chips and a glass of icy coke.
ENJOY!!!! I know we did

8:53
SWEET AND SOUR NOODLE SOUP
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen

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The temperature is still in the 30s and 40s for us here. Many of my friends like me feel like we’ve had enough of winter and snow. We are all waiting for spring and warm temperatures :) I still continue making soups for dinner. Soup is turning into sort of comfort food for us these days. Most of time, our dinner will be some of kind of soup and garlic bread. For those of who feel garlic bread is high in fat, you can make your own garlic bread with whole wheat Italian loaf or any crusty bread and low fat butter like Smart Balance or Promise Activ. I usually mix some garlic powder or garlic paste with Promise Activ butter and smear it over the bread and toast them for 10 minutes in the oven. This is so good with soup. Sometimes instead of making garlic bread, we used to dip the toasted plain bread in garlic-flavored olive or canola oil and have them with soup. A real treat for garlic lovers like us!

INGREDIENTS:

1. Whole wheat noodle rolls, 2. (or whole wheat spaghetti).

2. Small red onion, 1.

3. Mixed vegetables like cabbage, carrots, and peas, 1 cup.

4. Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.

5. Soya sauce, 1 tablespoon.

6. Corn starch, 1 teaspoon.

7. Salt and pepper as per taste.

8. Honey or agave nectar, 1 teaspoon.

9. Chili sauce, ½ teaspoon. I used a regular Chinese chili sauce, it has some chili flakes in it. (can be increased according to taste).
10. Any dried herbs of choice, 1/2 teaspoon.

PREPARATION:

Dice the onions and other vegetables finely. Heat a pot with some oil. Add the onions and sauté for a few minutes once the oil turns oil. When the onions are translucent, add the ginger-garlic paste and the vegetables and sauté for a few more minutes. Mix the corn starch with ½ cup of water and add it the soup. Then add 4 cups of water along with the sauces, honey, dried herbs, salt, and pepper and let it come to a boil. Once the soup comes to a boil, add the noodles and let it cook for a few more minutes until the noodles are done (cooking times for the noodles varies according to package instructions) and serve hot.
Gita's Kitchen

5:50
Sabayon with fruits
» ‎ My Kitchen Treasures

Sabayon with fruits

March 02, 2010
23:29
MEC Soups Roundup!!!!
» ‎ S A R A' S C O R N E R

Thank you for wonderful entries for MEC Soups Event. I would like to thank Srivalli for giving me an opportunity to host the event. Here goes the roundup. Tomato Soup by Srinithya of Andhra Ruchulu. Cream of Onion Potato Soup by Kamala of Masoor Dal n Tomato Soup by Asha of Foodieshope Tomato, Carrot n Peas Soup by Nithu of Nithu's Kitchen Hearty Pasta Vegetable Soup by PJ of Seduce

12:53
Veggie pizza with paneer, mushrooms and bell pepper
» ‎ Creative saga...

Its completely an individual's choice of about what goes on the pizza. But one has to be careful that the ingredients does not make the crust soggy. If you use some vegetables, then just saute them...

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12:07
BUTTERMILK DOSA....
» ‎ LOVE4COOKING

10:21
Eggless Low Fat Tiramisu with the Daring Bakers
» ‎ Annarasa

The February Daring Bakers Challenge was Tiramisu, a dessert I have always been partial to. Coffee is not a drink that ranks high on my list of preferred beverages. I never really enjoyed it and its never the first drink that comes to mind when I am looking for refershment. Yet I love the taste of lightly sweetened coffee in milk desserts, and chocolates!! And for that reason, Tiramisu is well-loved. And I was delighted to experiment with a low fat, eggless version of the same for this challenge.

I made eggless Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits, soaked them in diluted and warmed Kahlua, and made the cream part with a combuination of strained Greek yogurt, one teaspoon of icing sugar, and 1/2 cup fat free cool whip. Layered the dessert, chilled it and sprinkled with cocoa powder - and served it with herbal tea!! Absolutely delicious, guilt-free, and ever so repeatable.

As I am travelling at present, I will be able to post the photograph as soon as I am back home.

Post Script: The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.
All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2010. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

8:12
Mint (Pudhina) Chutney
» ‎ Spicy Tasty
I love to make dishes with mint leaves because it always gives such an mouthwatering flavor to the dishes. And Mint has such awesome qualities like it could be used as a refreshing and a cleansing facial wash.

In South India, we call this recipe as “Pudhina Thoghayal”. It goes great with a lot of dishes like Dosa, Idlies, or even with rice and sambhar, rice and vathakuzhambu, etc.

Ingredients:
- Mint Leaves : 1 bunch (separate the leaves from stem)
- Coriander Leaves : 1/2 bunch
- Vegetable Oil : 1 tbsp
- Red Chilies : 6-7 (According to your spice level)
- Grated Coconut : 3 tbsp
- Urad dal : 1tbsp
- Asafoetida : 1/4 tsp
- Ginger : 1tbsp
- Tamarind Juice: 1/2 cup
Method Of Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a pan add Urad dal and asafoetida, fry them till urad dal turns light brown.
2. Now add Ginger and Red chilies fry them for few mins.
3. And add Mint leaves sauté it for 2-3 mins. When it starts to shrink add the coriander leaves and shredded coconut.
4. Let it simmer in the heat for few mins.
5. Remove from heat and let it cool.
6. Grind the mixture by adding tamarind extract till it becomes a smooth paste.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Now Mint chutney is ready to serve.
© admin for Spicy Tasty, 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: gravies, side-dishes, veggie

Tags: gravies, side-dishes, veggie

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March 01, 2010
17:52
MUSHROOM AND PEANUT FRY
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen
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This is an interesting recipe, which came out from our love with peanuts. My hubby is crazy about peanuts that sometimes he adds peanuts to the side dishes as I keep cooking them. These even include dishes like upma and even cabbage and okra fry. As I cooking this curry, I saw some boiled peanuts from yesterday’s snack lying in the fridge. They immediately went into the mushroom fry and were relished until it was over :) If raw cashews are available, they can be added too. It will be just as divine!

INGREDIENTS:
1. Mushrooms, any type, 1 packet.
2. Red onions, medium-size, 2.
3. Cooked and deshelled peanuts, ½ cup.
4. Ginger-garlic paste, 1teaspoon.
5. Chili powder, 1 teaspoon.
6. Coriander powder, 2 teaspoons.
7. Garam masala (optional), ½ teaspoon.
8. Turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon.
9. Fennel seeds, ¼ teaspoon.
10. Curry leaves and cilantro for garnishing.
11. Salt as per taste.
PREPARATION:

Dice the onions finely and slice the mushrooms thinly. Heat a pan with some oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the fennel seeds and fry for 2 seconds. Add the onions and curry leaves and sauté for a few minutes until the onions turn brown. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and keep sautéing until everything is well blended. Add all the powders and salt and mix everything well and cook for 5 minutes until the powders lose their raw smell. Now add the mushrooms and peanuts and keep cooking under medium flame. After 10 minutes, the mushrooms oozes out all the water and the dish will turn dry. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot curry with rice or chapthis.

Gita's Kitchen

9:47
Not quite a rabbit....
» ‎ Served with love

I don't quite fancy carrots. Unless they are made into gajar ka halwa. And a carrot cake, of course.

And yes, I do like my carrots made this way.
Or when added to certain other veggies like cauliflower or cabbage or peas.

Looks like I do like carrots! However, unlike rabbits, I like my carrots cooked. Which apparently is a good thing. For, I found out just a few weeks back that it is better to cook carrots than to eat them raw!

Here's another way I love to have carrots:

Ingredients:

Carrots - 4 medium sized

Yogurt: 3/4 cup
Salt
Sugar: 1 tsp

grind the following to a smooth paste, adding a little water, if needed:
Grated coconut: 3 tbsps
curry leaves: 8-10 nos
coriander leaves: 3-4 stalks
green chillies: 2 nos
mustard seeds: 1.5 tsp

for the tempering:

oil: 1 tbsp
mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
dried red chillies: 2 nos
curry leaves: 5-6
peppercorn: 6 nos

Method:

Peel the carrots and boil them until soft and cooked. I normally pressure cook the carrots - 2 whistles are enough to cook them.

When cool, cut them into a few pieces and grind to get a smooth puree. Use a little water if necessary.

Mix together the pureed carrots, the coconut - mustard paste and the yogurt. Season with salt and sugar.

Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds to the hot oil. When they crackle, add the red chillies, curry leaves and the peppercorn; let these sizzle in the oil for half a minute and then pour over the carrot-yoghurt mix. Stir and chill for half an hour before serving.

I normally make this raita as an accompaniment to parathas or with any dry stir fried veggie like aloo gobhi or jeera aloo.

So, what is it called?
I call it "carrot raita with yogurt". It is a Tamil preparation that my MIL makes very often; somehow, I don't know what it is called! What I do know is that the sweetness of the carrots, paired with the tanginess of yogurt and the piquancy of the mustard seeds give this raita a lovely and almost indescribable medley of flavours. Hope you like it too!

February 28, 2010
14:52
WHOLE WHEAT AND CORIANDER NAAN
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen

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This recipe is for my sister. I tried explaining this recipe to her so many times and just grew tired :( My little sis though very smart is still not able to grasp when I say what she needs to do with the yeast when we talk over the phone. She too has a very good blog, do check her blog. It is an interesting blog overall. I am not including her blog link here since I didn’t ask her permission for this but she is sure to get mad after reading this and will post her comments here in the comments section. You can follow her link from there ;)

Coming on to the recipe, I am also a relatively newbie with rotis and naans. I make chapathis very often for lunch and sometimes naans made with whole wheat flour. I usually make naans on stove top rather than oven. I feel the naans turn out softer that way. I have used white whole wheat flour here. White whole wheat flour is good for baking, especially when mixed with yeast. This is the basic recipe I follow for making naan. I usually use milk for raising the yeast rather than adding sugar to warm water. This is healthy and the naans are also very soft when milk is added to the dough. For garlic and butter naans, I usually coat the naan with low-fat butter and sprinkle some crushed roasted garlic chips in the end.

INGREDIENTS:

1. White whole wheat flour, around 2 cups.

2. Yeast, 1-1/2 teaspoon.

3. Salt, ½ teaspoon.

4. Oil, 1 tablespoon.

5. Milk, 1 cup. (Nonfat milk too works perfect here).

5. Cilantro, ½ cup, chopped.

PREPARATION:

Warm the milk in microwave or stove top. The milk should just warm enough to the touch. Very hot liquid can kill the yeast and if cold liquid is used, the yeast will not raise. Add the yeast to the warm milk, mix it well, and lit it sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, milk will appear frothy. Meanwhile mix the 1-1/2 cup of flour and salt together. Add the chopped cilantro and pour the milk over the flour and start mixing. Add extra flour if the dough is too sticky and then add a teaspoon of oil and knead the dough for 10 minutes. The dough should be soft and pliable. Add another teaspoon of oil on top of the dough, cover it with a wet cloth and let it sit for 1 hour. After 1 hour, the dough should have raised about half of its original size. Punch it down and knead for another 2 minutes. Then heat a flat-bottomed pan, and start rolling the dough into flat chapathis by taking small balls of the dough. When the pan is hot (it should on high heat), put on a rolled naan into the pan. Flip it after 10 seconds once bubbles start forming on the surface. Add a teaspoon of oil and flip it again after 10 seconds. Keep flipping the naan until it is well done on both sides. Then repeat the same procedure with the other rolled out naans. Serve hot with any curry. TBXGVFEEDPSX

Gita's Kitchen

9:52
Tamatar ki Chatney (Homestyle Tomato Chutney)
» ‎ Annarasa
The most amazing and fresh winter vegetables line the outdoor vegetable markets in Delhi. Beautiful cauliflower, okra, green peppers, spinach, radish, pumpkin, beets, red carrot, and of course, juicy red tomatoes!! The cheap and surplus of tomatoes in the market were always a motivation to make chutneys, preserves, and jams! Yes, I remember tomato jam from my schooldays, when my benchmate introduced me to home made tomato jam filled between slices of spongy white bread. But I digress.

Every family seems to have their own version of tomato chutney. This is my take on a north-Indian style tomato chutney that my Mum made around Holi. It goes very well with a traditional Holi lunch - pooris (Deep fried Indian Bread), kaddu bhaji (Pumpkin Stir Fry), aloo rassa (Potato Curry) and raita (yogurt).

Ingredients:
2 cups cherry tomatoes
5-6 pods garlic
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp cooking oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp nigella seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 dried red chilies
Salt to taste
1 tsp Sugar

Method:
1. Heat oil in a large steel pan. Reduce to a medium-heat. Then add the cumin, fennel, nigella, and fenugreek seeds and roast for 30 secs. Next add the red chilies and turmeric powder, followed by the garlic pods. Stir fry for 1 minute.
2. Add the tomatoes with the salt and sugar and stir until they are coated with the oil. Cover and cook for around 20 minutes.
3. Add the raisins, mixing them into the chutney. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Add a spot of water if needed to continue cooking. Cook until the raisins are plump and juicy, and the chutney reaches a thickish consistency.
4. Check for seasoning. Turn off heat. Cool completely and serve cooled. This chutney can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
And just in time for Holi, this recipe goes to Cooking with Seeds: Fenugreek hosted this month by SE @ Denufood, event developed by Priya @ Priya's Easy & Tasty Recipes. It also goes to JFI Fennel being hosted this month by Siri @ Siri's Corner . JFI is an event created by Indira @ Mahanandi

Happy Holi Everyone!!
All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2010. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

9:00
Pizza dough / base!!
» ‎ Creative saga...

The last time when I made pizza from scratch, it consumed a whole lot of my time. I started around 9 in the morning, and by the time it was ready it was almost 2 in the afternoon. It is not a tedious...

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February 27, 2010
9:02
Awards and Appreciation!!!
» ‎ S A R A' S C O R N E R

In addition to the interest in contributing to the blog, am happy to say that these Awards and Appreciation have encouraged me a lot to do more. Thanks you all for the awards and gifts. This is the first book I received last year. Thanks Anna for sending me this Love Soup Book. It has lovely soup collections. Will soon be posting vegetarian soup recipes when I make. I received a Kitchen Sticky

1:00
Heaven on a Dessert Plate Tiramisu! Daring Bakers Challenge February 2010
» ‎ My Kitchen Treasures

Heaven on a Dessert Plate Tiramisu! Daring Bakers Challenge February 2010

1:00
Home Made Refried Beans
» ‎ Annarasa
A staple of Mexican food, refried beans are by any standard a delicious indulgence. We love Mexican food here and I am always interested in creating healthful vegetarian alternatives to world foods that we try in restaurants every now and then. This recipe of refried beans has the authentic Mexican taste that goes so well with tortillas, tacos, rice, and dips. I used this recipe to make the refried beans for the Festive Seven Layer Dip.

Ingredients:
1 cup dried pinto beans
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup yellow onions, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded & minced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped fine
1 bay leaf
1 tsp chili powder, hot
1/2 tsp cumin, roasted & ground
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 cup cheese, grated

Method:
1. Soak the pinto beans in lots of cold water overnight. Drain the next morning.
2. Pressure cook the pinto beans in fresh water with the bay leaf. Alternatively place the beans in a heavy bottomed pan, cover completely with water, adding a couple of inches extra over the beans. Toss in the bay leaf, cook for 1-2 hours or until the beans are soft. While they are cooking you may need to replenish the water.to keep the beans covered.
3. Once cooked, drain the beans but retain any liquid from them. Mash the beans until they are well-mashed.
4. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onions, stir, and cook until they are soft and transparent. Add the garlic, jalapeno, all the spices, and salt to taste.
5. Fry for a minute, then add the beans and any drained out liquid. Mix well and cook for 5-10 minutes or until you get a nice and heavy paste. If the paste seems too dry add a little water as needed.
6. Remove from heat, pour the paste into a serving bowl, sprinkle with cilantro and cheese.
7. Serve hot.
The best thing I like about refried beans is that they can be prepared in advance and refrigerated for a couple of days. If you plan on doing this, follow though till step 5., then cool and refrigerate the beans. Before serving them, heat the beans through, then add the cheese and cilantro, and serve.

We ate these in the Festive Seven Layer Dip, so I don't have a separate photograph for the beans. You can see them in the bottom layer of the dip in the dip. I will update with a better photograph the next time I make them.

The Refried Beans go out to Rachel @ The Crispy Cook who is hosting My Legume Love Affair #20, an event created by Susan @ The Well-Seasoned Cook.

More Mexican style food:
Healthy Vegetarian Tacos
Vegetarian Chilli Con Soya

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2010. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

February 26, 2010
20:51
Tiramisu **Daring Bakers**
» ‎ Tangerine's Kitchen Hangout!

Tiramisu has always been the most heavenly dessert and still is. Yes, this month the Daring Bakers did Tiramisu. I have eaten several versions of this dessert but only a certain have impressed me. I have never made one owing to the fact that the process is very long. However, I was proved wrong after this challenge. All you need is some planning and the process is smooth.

Tiramisu means "pick me up" and is a layered cake. According to Wikipedia, The original recipe comprised savoiardi (ladyfinger biscuits), eggs, sugar, mascarpone, cocoa powder, honey and club soda. There was no liquor as it was targeted mainly at children and the elderly. The original shape was round and the word "pick me up" is in reference to the effects of sugar and espresso.

There is a lot on the history of this dessert and is worth a read.

For this challenge, the zabaglione, pastry cream, whipped cream and mascarpone was made from scratch. I made the mascarpone and the zabaglione and the pastry cream on the same day giving it enough time for refrigeration for more than 24 hours. It was only a further couple of days that I was able to make the biscuits. So a little planning helped a lot.

Mascarpone Cheese – Vera’s Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese

Zabaglione, Vanilla Pastry Cream and the Whipped Cream- (Recipe source: Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 )

Both the above recipes worked well with me.Alcohol wasn't used in the recipe in keeping my daughter in mind. I had no problems so there's nothing much to mention.

I made the lady finger biscuits an early morning. I should have made more because I felt the need for more. They were good to eat on their own. Probably that is why I was short of these while assembling the tiramisu.

LADYFINGERS/ SAVOIARDI BISCUITS
(Source: Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home)

With the above I made a 6" round cake using a ring mould and one in a glass. The recipe for the tira misu is (Recipe source: Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007 ).

Bottom: A layer of broken espresso-soaked Savoiardi
I Layer-Zabaglione+Vanilla Pastry Cream+Whipped Cream
II Layer- Sugar-syrup soaked sliced strawberries+ espresso-soaked Savoiardi
III Layer-Zabaglione+Vanilla Pastry Cream+Whipped Cream

Chilled overnight resulted in 1 person eating it on his own without sharing.

What you see above was assembled in a ring mould. The ladyfingers were dipped in sweetened espresson and arranged ina single row. For the next layer I mixed in sugar syrup-soaked chopped stawberries with the cream mixture and spread it on the ladyfingers.This was repeated in another two layers and chilled for more than 24 hours. This is where I had to resist the urge to cut a slice for myself. Before serving and being well chilled, I sprinkled chocolate shavings.

The recipe in itself is a great working one.The ladyfingers are very crisp on the outside and have a spongy texture on the inside. A great snack on its own.Like it was mentioned in the recipe that they tend to get soggy easily when soaked was not true when I did it. It did maintain its shape well.Making Mascarpone was uneventful too. I dont own a thermometer, so the stages were by instinct and this time it worked. The 24 rest in the refrigerator really did firm it up. Beating it with a spoon before mixing the others into it made it smooth. I wasn't as adventurous as most others on the forum. Stuck to two of my favourite flavours, chocolate and strawberry. Assembled and refrigerated well gave me neat slices. Ultimatel this recipe is a keeper!

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

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17:04
PEAS MASALA
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen
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This recipe is from an Aval Vikatan magazine recipe compilation. I am a big fan of this Tamil magazine. Usually a small recipe booklet comes along with the magazine and I have been collecting them whenever I buy this magazine, sometimes I buy it just to get the recipe booklet :) I was attracted to the photo of this recipe when I saw this in a vegetarian recipe booklet. I followed the recipe exactly here. Next time I am planning to add some fat-free half and half to this instead of the nuts used to thicken the gravy. I prepared this peas masala as a side dish with jeera rice and chapathis.

INGREDIENTS:
1. Fresh or frozen green peas, 1 cup.
2. Medium-sized onions, 2.
3. Tomatoes, 3. Canned tomatoes works best too. If canned tomatoes are used, 1-1/2 cup is required.
4. Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.
5. Cashews, around 2-3 pieces.
6. Red chilies, 3-4.
7. Coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon.
8. Cardamom seeds, 2.
9. Fennel seeds, ½ teaspoon.
10. Cinnamon, 1 small stick.
11. Clove, 1.
12. Salt as per taste.
13. Cilantro for garnishing.
PREPARATION:

Dice the onions and tomatoes finely and keep aside. Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil and add the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, fennel seeds, clove, and coriander seeds and let everything fry for a minute. Then add the red chilies and fry for a few seconds. Transfer everything to a plate and let it cool. Add the diced onions to the same pan and sauté for a few minutes until onions turn brown. Then add the tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste and keep sautéing until everything is blended. Switch off the stove and let it cool. Grind the mixture into a smooth paste along the almonds and fried spices. The spices can also be ground separately and added to the blended onion and tomato paste. Transfer all the contents into the pan, add a teaspoon of oil, 1 cup of water, and salt as per taste and let it cook closed for 5-10 minutes under low flame. Add the peas now, mix everything, and cook for 2 more minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with chapathis or rice.
Gita's Kitchen

12:06
Cauliflower Poriyal/Cauliflower Masala Curry
» ‎ Spicy Tasty
Shriya : “Arthi is one of my best friends and wow, can she cook? The first time I visited her when she moved to the US, she had made dozens of incredible variety of Indian dishes and I ate until my tummy was about to burst.

Arthi is passionate about cooking and has gracefully accepted to share her wonderful recipes here with us. Please welcome her in her first SpicyTasty recipe!”

I am happy to join hands with my friends to write my recipes in SpicyTasty and my special thanks to them for that. Here is my first recipe, Cauliflower Masala Curry. My mom used to make this and I love this.

Ingredients:
- Cauliflower - 1 (small size)
- Onion - 1 chopped finely
- Tomato - 1 chopped
- Cinnamon stick - 1/2″
- Cloves - 2
- Cumin seeds - 1tsp
- Ginger garlic paste - 1tbsp
- Red chilli powder - 2tsp
- Salt - to taste
- Coriander leaves - 3 or 4 strings
- Oil - 2tsp
Masala to Grind:
- Coconut - 1 1/2 tbsp
- Fennel seeds - 2tsp
- Cumin seeds - 1tsp
- Green chilli - 1
Method of Preparation:
1. Separate cauliflower into small pieces.
2. Immerse the cauliflower florets in hot water with some salt.
3. Grind the masala to paste and mix it with the drained florets and keep it aside.
4. Heat oil in a pan add cinnamon sticks, cloves, cumin seeds and chopped onions.
5. Fry them till it becomes translucent and add ginger garlic paste and toss it for 2 minutes.
6. Then add the chopped tomatoes followed by salt and cook them till they are smashed.
7. Now add the florets mixed with ground paste and add the red chilli powder.
8. Fry till they become soft and add the coriander leaves.
Cauliflower Masala Curry will be tastier than the usual way we make the cauliflower curry. I tried it and it came out real good. My husband and all my friends liked it. This curry can be taken as a side with rice or can be served with chapathi.

© arthi for Spicy Tasty, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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10:25
Simple and Quick Macaroni with White Sauce Recipe
» ‎ Spice your Life

I know I just made the white sauce for the burgers and ended up having quite some left. I knew I will end up making this. I used to love this during my teens and wanted to see if Konda will like it to. Since this has a tendency to get thicken, I wanted to serve her for breakfast. She said she loved it. Of course with Konda one is never sure.

She ate most of it, leaving some saying she was full. I will have to try it again on her to see if she reacts as enthusiastic as today. I really loved tasting a spoon of it. Of course the diet is still there. Since I am eating mostly the regular food, I thought I will update once or twice depending on what new dishes I make.

Diet Program ~ Today

7. 00 am - Coffee with biscuits
10.00 am - 1 quarter piece of Ragi Roti
11.30 am - Buttermilk
1.30 pm - 3 Peas parathas
5.00 pm - 1 sandwich with cucumber
5.30 pm - 1 apple

Simple and Quick Macaroni with White Sauce Recipe

Ingredients Needed:

Macaroni -1 cup
Butter - 1/2 tsp
White Sauce - 2 -3 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Pepper and Salt for taste

Boil macaroni in lots of water, drain it once it is cooked.

In a non stick pan, heat the butter, add the cooked macaroni and white sauce, stir well.

Then add the milk, pepper and salt. Adjust the seasoning and remove.

This takes about 10 mins max from the start to end, if you have the white sauce handy!

9:00
Festive Seven Layer Dip with Home Made Refried Beans
» ‎ Annarasa
Super Bowl Sunday had always been celebrated with a ritualistic fervour by my friends from across the pond when I lived in England. Somehow I never quite understood the enthusiasm. Most probably because I had not been exposed to the game, did not know the teams, or anything else about this annual event for that matter. I guess it was also because the time difference meant that the game one had to be awake past mid-night to enjoy the festivities - something my schedules would never permit.

Well, now I live in the States and Super Bowl is a part of life!! This year I was really keen on making a Seven Layer Dip at home. So I did just that, starting with the refried beans {to follow}, fresh tortillas, and to add that Indian touch masala soda!!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups refried beans
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1/2 tsp taco seasoning
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup guacamole
1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup black olives, sliced
1/2 cup spring onions, sliced

Method:
1. Spread the refried beans in a shallow serving dish.
2. Mix the sour cream with taco seasoning. Layer on top of the refried beans.
3. Layer with guacamole, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, spring onions, and olives.
Serve with chips of choice, fresh tortillas, or pita chips. This party platter goes to Valentine & Super Bowl Recipe Carnival hosted by Manasi @ Fun & Food Cafe.

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2010. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

7:01
Homemade Chocolate Easter Eggs
» ‎ Fun and Food

Like any other holidays, Easter is celebrated within US with equal gusto, as it heralds Spring into most parts of the country. However, Easter is always extra special for kids, as they have lots more activities to do compared to some other festivals. Right from Easter bunnies to Easter Egg Hunts, to colorful costumes and flavorful candies, there are tonnes of family activities to engage your tiny tots, the most preferred one being Making Chocolate Eggs! Though its customary to dye egg shells,...

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February 25, 2010
8:40
Whipped Kiwi-Banana Frozen Yogurt
» ‎ Annarasa
Kiwis are probably one of the prettiest fruits in the market. When I was growing up they were rarely seen in the fruit stalls of Delhi and Mumbai. My first memory of them is on chilled fruit tarts, sublimely green and rather exotic, sitting very prettily next to strawberries, and pineapples! When they first made an appearance in the local fruit markets, they were assigned a special place - imported and expensive. Interestingly they were also regularly confused with Chikoo or Sapota due to their dull brown-green skin!! The two fruits could not taste more different, though each is lovely in is own way:) I love the sweet-tartness of the Kiwi and when paired with banana, its simply divine.

Ingredients:
1 cup live yogurt, vanilla
1 kiwi, washed & peeled
1 banana, peeled

Method:
1. Cube the peeled Kiwi and chop the banana.
2. Place with yogurt in a blender. Give it a good whiz. The fruit should be pureed and blended into the yogurt.
3. Pour into single-serve bowls, and pop into the freezer for a couple of hours.
4. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving.
5. Enjoy.
There are times when I have a mild sweet craving but I don't feel like digging into any heavy or cloying sweet. Fresh fruit always does the trick - and this frozen yogurt is another way to enjoy those flavours!! This is a great dessert when you are in a hurry, or a snack when hunger strikes! Its low sweet, packed with fresh fruit, and satisfying - perfect for someone with that sweet tooth missing:)

This dessert goes to Padmaja @ Seduce Your Tastebuds. She is hosting a 'No Cook Event' until 28th February 2010. Do visit her blog for some fabulous recipes this month!

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2010. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

0:29
Cooking for Kids - PFE Roundup
» ‎ S A R A' S C O R N E R

Sorry Friends for the delay in the roundup. I have taken a back seat from blogging since my inlaws are getting back to India.Here comes the Roundup of Cooking for Kids - Creative Food for Picky/Fussy Eaters. Hope its useful if you have a Picky/Fussy Eater at home. Aloo Vegetable Paratha by Preethi.She says like all other kids, we have a tough time feeding our little one. He loves chappathis and

February 24, 2010
23:17
HEALTHY WHOLEWHEAT SOFT BREAD
» ‎ IN LOVE WITH FOOD

I love bread, particularly soft, white bread, as a child, bread was a staple in the house and we used to substitute it regularly for chapatis or rice, not a very healthy habit though but you know some habits are so hard to kick! Even now I love to soak up the last of the gravy with a slice of bread, it's really one of the simple pleasures of life.
In an attempt to eat healthy I have however completely stopped buying white bread and have switched to Wholewheat/multigrain/brown bread instead, a long standing wish was, however to be able to bake my own bread, I did that today and have a delicious, fresh, soft homemade loaf sitting on the dinner table. Now I can indulge to my heart's content and really not feel guilty about it.
For 1 medium loaf you require-
Wholewheat flour (atta)- 250 gms
Milk-1/2 cup
Fresh curd/yogurt- 2 tbsp
Butter- 30 gms (diced)
Salt-1/2 tsp
Sugar-2 tsp
Fresh yeast-2 heaped tsp
Egg-1
Sesame/poppy seeds- for sprinkling over
Method-Combine milk and curd, add sugar heat till milk is lukewarm, stir in the yeast and wait for 10 minutes till frothy.Measure out flour in a large basin, rub in the butter so that it is like breadcrumbs, add salt.Break egg in a bowl and reserve little for egg wash, add rest to the milk mixture, now knead a dough by making a well in the center and adding the milk mixture, knead into a smooth dough.Oil a bowl and put the ball of dough, turning over so that the oil coats the ough, cover with cling film and let rise for 1 hour in a warm place till double in bulk.After an hour remove cling film and punch down dough, if you wish you can now shape and leave for second proofing and then bake.I however for lack of time, shaped dough into a simple braid and baked the dough immediately. Brush with reserved egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds, bake shaped dough in a preheated oven (200 C ) for 35-40 minutes or till golden on top.
The bread came out slightly crusty on top but wonderfully soft inside and the smell of baking bread filled the entire house, it was really a wonderful experience, one which I will be repeating as much as I can :).
This healthy wholewheat bread is on its way to the Wild yeast blog, check out all the yeasted goodies there!

23:05
Hope for Haiti and a comfort food of mine.....
» ‎ Tangerine's Kitchen Hangout!

All of us know that Haiti was affected by huge earthquake and the enormity of the disaster is huge. I have felt small earthquakes too and that freaked me out. So I can imagine how much the people out there are affected.
H2Ope for Haiti is an online raffle launched by BloggerAid - Changing the Face of Famine (BA-CFF) to raise funds for Concern Worldwide's relief effort in Haiti. Concern Worldwide was selected because of its long track record and quick response after the quake to provide clean drinking water and water purification tablets. This non-governmental international humanitarian organisationfounded in 1968 works around the world to reduce suffering and work towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world's poorest countries. Concern International has been working in Haiti since 1994 and had over 100 staff members on the ground when the earthquake struck. Despite losing several team members in the tragedy, they have been quick to act with distribution of supplies. Concern Worldwide estimates that its initial response to the emergency will last at least six months. The money raised by this raffle will be paid directly into Concern Worldwide's account by Justgiving and will be used exclusively for the Haiti relief effort.
So just head over to Cook Sister for the list of prizes and a guide to follow and do a small deed because every small drop counts here. You can bid on a lot of wonderful prizes from personally autographed cookbooks to parcels of French baking goodies to original art.
I am offering a prize in the raffle as well.

It is a cotton stole with traditional Indian motifs handpainted by me. Shipping is worldwide and the advantage is you get to choose the colour of the painted design. The prize code for this is HFH14.
So you could either enter the raffle or pass on the message on twitter, facebook, family et al like it is rightly said : It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can.

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Sometimes the simple things can have the greatest impact. And the simple here being potatoes and the impact being the comfort feeling it showers on me. A plate of hot steaming rice, firm curd and a bowl of sauteed potatoes you see in the picture is my most comforting meal. It is a simple dish that takes hardly any time. What you need is to peel and chop 3 medium-sized potatoes and boil only until is cooked and not too soft. It has to retain its firmness. While it is boiling, heat 2T of coconut oil preferably and splutter 1t of mustard seed. Add in 1 sliced onion. Meanwhile make a paste of 1T each of ginger and garlic, 1T chilli powder, 1/2 T turmeric powder, 1/2 T pepper powder and salt. . Add this paste to the onions. Sautee until the oil leaves the paste . Add in the boiled potatoes and stir to coat them well with the past. Cover and let it cook for about 5 minutes. I would suggest you roast the potatoes until it has a crisp outside. It also results in the caramelization of the onions which enhances the flavour further. Roasted to perfection, I had a hearty meal!!!Subscribe to my space!

16:50
LENTIL SOUP
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen

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The inspiration for this soup is from my friend. She is an Egyptian and she made this soup for us when we were at her place for dinner. The soup she served was very tasty and thick and it reminded me of the dhal I make. I asked her the ingredients and noted them down and here is my version of my friend’s lentil soup. I didn’t add potatoes to this soup like my friend did but I included some more vegetables and used the same lentil (masoor dhal) that she used. This soup tasted more or less like a rasam or paruppu rasam :)…but this was really tasty with garlic bread. The next day we had this soup with rice and that tasted so yummy. I wanted a thin soup, so I have used just ½ cup of lentils here and it can be increased according to personal preferences.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Any type of quick-cooking lentils, masoor dhal works perfect here, ½ cup.

2. Onion, medium size, 1.

3. Canned tomatoes, ½ cup.

4. Pureed tomatoes, ½ cup.

5. Mixed vegetables, chopped into small pieces, 1 cup.

6. Cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon.

7. Coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon.

8. Salt and pepper as per taste.

9. Mixture of dry herbs, 1 tablespoon.

10. Garlic, 2 cloves.

PREPARATION:

Grind the cumin seeds and coriander seeds and keep aside. Dice the onion finely and crush the garlic coarsely. Heat a pot with some oil. Add the diced onions when the oil turns hot and sauté for a few minutes until they turn brown. Add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste along with the veggies, crushed garlic, lentils, 4 cups of water, salt and pepper and mix everything well. Once the soup comes to a boil, reduce the flame and cook closed for 20-25 minutes until the lentils are cooked. Add the ground powders and dry herbs now and switch off the stove. Ladle hot soups into bowls and serve with any crusty bread of plain rice.
Gita's Kitchen

12:15
Araichuvitta Sambar - Lentil Soup (with Jackfruit Seeds/Drumstick)
» ‎ Spicy Tasty
I am back from my long India vacation. And started my cooking in my favorite kitchen. I had brought some jackfruit seeds from India. So I just made my all time favorite sambar (lentil soup) with my mom’s recipe.

This sambar recipe is a very traditional recipe in south India. It’s little different from the regular sambar. If you don’t have jackfruit seeds you can substitute any vegetable. This goes very well with idli, dosa and rice. Trust me it tastes like heaven!
Ingredients:
- Shallots: 7-8(Peeled)
- Tomato: 1
- Oil: 2 tbsp
- Toor dal: 1/2 cup
- Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
- Asafoetida: 1/4 tsp
- Urad dal: 1 tsp
- Jack fruit seeds: 1/2 cup
- Drumsticks : 7-8 nos
- Coriander Leaves : 2 tbsp (For garnishing)
- Tamarind paste: 2 tbsp
Masala to Grind:
- Coriander Seeds : 11/2tbsp
- Channa dal: 1tbsp
- Cumin seeds : 1 tsp
- Curry leaves: 5-6
- Whole Red chilies: 7-8 (according to your spice level)
- Grated coconut : 2 tbsp
- Oil : 1 tsp
Method Of Preparation:
1. Pressure cook the toor dal(Red gram) with 1 1/2 cups of water for 3-4 whistles. Adjust the whistle till the gram becomes soft and fully cooked.
2. Roast all the ingredients (masala to grind) cool them and grind it into smooth powder.
3. Boil the Jackfruit seeds for 10 minutes or till it becomes fully cooked and keep them aside (you can use any vegetables instead of jackfruit seeds)
4. Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds, urad dal and asafoetida after it sputters add shallots fry them till it becomes translucent.
5. Then add chopped tomatoes and some salt.
6. Fry them for few minutes or till it becomes soft after that add turmeric powder .
7. Add the pressure cooked toor dal (red gram) and add a cup of water. Let it come to full boil.
8. And then add the drumsticks, boiled jackfruit seeds and the ground masala powder .
9. Boil the whole mixture for 10 - 15 minutes in simmer heat. Finally add the tamarind paste and bring into full boil.
10. Remove from heat and garnish it with coriander leaves.
© admin for Spicy Tasty, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: gravies, sambar, veggie

Tags: gravies, sambar, veggie

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10:35
Pure Chocolate Indulge
» ‎ My Kitchen Treasures

Pure Chocolate Indulge

1:27
Chocolate Fudge Cake
» ‎ Served with love

Every time I go to India, there is a family gathering featuring an assortment of aunts, uncles and some cousins. Oh, I really love these family get-togethers. It feels great to meet the extended family after long intervals and exchange notes on all that's been happening in our lives. The evening stretches long and the chatter is endless. Food and drink flow; starters, main courses and desserts happily inter-mingle. Photographs are passed around and gossip is shared.
The family get-together last December when I went to Pune was no different, except that at some point in the evening, the conversation suddenly veered to recollections of "what Aqua did when she was young".
I must have been some kind of a nut, for everyone had some incident or the other to share, every incident seemed more embarrassing than the previous one and all I wanted to do was burrow a hole somewhere and hibernate till the evening came to an end!
But what really ...er... took the cake was what my aunt had to say. About the time when I helped myself to spoonfuls of cake batter. Apparently, she was baking her famous chocolate fudge cake and left the kitchen after preparing the batter while waiting for the oven to heat up. It seems, unable to resist her greed, yours truly tiptoed into the kitchen and ate up some batter! And then denied it, in spite of remnants of the batter sound her lips.
She had brought along that very chocolate fudge cake for the evening; not only did she give me a large slice but also (finally!) parted with her fabulous recipe.
Very chocolately with just a hint of vanilla, this super moist cake can stand on its own without any frosting. You won't stop at just one slice, of that I am certain!

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter: 90 gms
Sugar: 200 gms
Vanilla essence: 1 tsp
Eggs: 2
Cocoa: 40 gms
All purpose flour: 200gms
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp (omit if using salted butter)
Hot water: 90 ml
Buttermilk: 180 ml

Method:

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Blend the cocoa into the hot water, stir well so that no lumps remain.

Cream together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the essence and beat a minute.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for a minute after you add each egg.

Now add the buttermilk and the cocoa mixture alternately to the batter, starting and ending with the buttermilk. The mixture will be very watery at this point.

Finally, fold in the flour to get a smooth batter.

Pre-heat the oven for 10 mins and bake in a tube pan at 200 deg C for 40 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Notes:

My aunt sometimes adds coffee to this cake. If you decide to add coffee, omit the vanilla essence and instead mix 1.5 tsps of coffee to the hot water along with the cocoa.
I feel that adding cinnamon would do wonders to the taste, the next time I plan to ditch both vanilla and coffee in favour of cinnamon. Will definitely keep you posted!

The recipe states a baking time of 40 mins, but it took me 50 mins to bake mine. So, I would recommend that you set the timer for 40 mins and bake in 10 min increments, if the cake is not done.

I don't have a tube pan and instead baked it in a bundt pan. Whilst my aunt's cake has scarcely any cracks, mine had a few. So I guess this cake is best baked in a tube pan.
Since chocolate is always associated with Valentine's Day, sending this chocolate fudge cake to Nina who is hosting a Bake-a-Cake event as part of Valentine's Day celebrations.

February 23, 2010
19:06
LOW CALORIE CHOCOLATE CHIPS PANCAKES
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen

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I wrote this recipe from a cookbook long time back. The original recipe used buttermilk, eggs, and all purpose flour. I tried to lower the carbs and calorie a little bit from the original recipe by substituting all purpose flour with white whole flour and used nonfat yogurt instead of buttermilk. Nonfat yogurt gives a nice white color and softness to the pancakes. They were very good and sweet with the slight bitter-sweet taste from the dark chocolate chips. I also liked the taste of white whole wheat flour here than regular whole wheat flour. I used King Arthur whole wheat flour for the first time and I feel that this has the same texture as the atta flours available in Indian stores. Can anyone clarify me on this? The dark chocolate chips contain low sugar and less fat compared to the regular chocolate chips, so this was a totally healthy and delicious weekend breakfast for us alongside with some omelets.

INGREDIENTS:

1. White whole wheat flour or whole wheat flour, 2 cups.

2. Nonfat yogurt, 1 cup.

3. Water, ½ cup and more according to thickness of the batter.

4. Cinnamon powder, 1 teaspoon.

5. Honey or any artificial sweetener like agave nectar, 1 tablespoon.

6. Baking soda, ½ teaspoon.

7. Chocolate chips, ½ cup. (I have used bittersweet 60% cacao chips).

PREPARATION:

Mix all the ingredients except the chocolate chips into a smooth batter. The batter should be thin enough to pour. Heat a nonstick pan or cast iron pan and apply and thin layer of oil on the pan. Take a ladle full of the pancake batter and pour it over the hot pan. It starts spreading as soon as it is poured over the hot surface. Sprinkle the chocolate chips randomly over the pancakes. The pancakes are ready to be flipped after a minute when bubbles start forming all over the surface. Flip them over and let them cook on the other side for a minute and transfer to a plate. Enjoy hot pancakes with fresh fruits or syrup.
Gita's Kitchen

10:00
Khichdi - A treat.
» ‎ Creative saga...

While for some, khichdi may be a food for the sick, but for me and my family it is a treat. Especially khichdi when served fresh and hot, is a bliss. Yes,I am not exaggerating here. Mind you, it...

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February 22, 2010
19:20
BASUNDI
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 This recipe is especially for Announcing Hearts for St Valentines Day a beautiful event conducted by Priya. When I said to my hubby that I am planning to prepare a sweet for the event, the request was for basundi. This is our favorite sweet, though a little bit time consuming but the taste is worth all the trouble…so rich and creamy with chopped nuts. This is the basic recipe for basundi. This can be changed according to taste. There are many versions of this sweet available like adding saffron, mango pulp, condensed milk etc.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Full fat milk, 1-1/2 liter.

2. Sugar, 1/2 cup or more according to taste.

3. Ghee, 2 tablespoons.

4. Nuts like cashews, almonds, pistachios and even some dry fruits like raisins or apricots.

5. Cardamom, 2 pods.

PREPARATION:

Chop the dry fruits and nuts and fry them in ghee until the turn golden brown and keep aside. Crush the cardamom coarsely. Boil the milk in a deep-bottomed pot along with the crushed cardamom and once the milk comes to a boil reduce the flame to medium and let it simmer. Keep collecting the creamy layer, which is formed on simmering, on to a separate bowl. After sometime (around an hour later), once the milk starts to thicken, add the sugar and let it dissolve. Then add the collected cream, and fried nuts to the milk and let it simmer for 5 more minutes and switch off. Let is cool, garnish with chopped nuts and enjoy.

Another reason to celebrate with the sweet is that I recently won a contest with Foodie Blogroll for updating my profile. They sent me this cute coffee mug yesterday. I love this mug and right now it is sitting proudly on my refrigerator top :)

Gita's Kitchen

10:39
Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes
» ‎ Food-n-More
A very BIG HELLO to all of you after almost a million years. Yes that's what it feels like to me today. Last post I put up was in October last year and after that I have kind of gone into a winter sleep where blogging is concerned. But that's only where blogging is concerned. A lots happened since then. The first break happened because my parents were here to visit us and ofcourse with them here obviously blogging was the last thing I could find time to do. They had a great stay and we did the touristy trips with them all over UK.

After they left I got a job. YES A JOB!!!! Isn't that great? I now work in a Primary School as a Learning Support Assistant and I am happy with my job. That's the second reason why I am not actively blogging. I am ofcourse cooking and entertaining but I now cook mostly in the evenings and my food pics taken in the evening are horrible. I have to also admit that many a times the food is eaten and polished off before I can photograph it. So no blog posts!

Then in Dec I went on my annual trip to India for 5 weeks. I spent the most fabulous 5 weeks there eating everything that I had missed in the last one and half year. It was simply great being back in Pune and riding my Honda Activa and driving the Santro. We had a blast and my son loved it. In his words "Aai INDIA ROCKS". What else did I need to hear.

But now I have been back since one month and things have fallen back into a routine with school and office and other activities and I am definitely back on the blogosphere.

A week back I baked these little cakes from a recipe from one of my most used books and that is The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking by Tarla Dalal. Now in the book these cakes are called Madeleines, but I prefer to call them just "little cakes" as traditionally a Madeleine is a shell shaped cake eaten at tea time and which is baked in special shell shaped moulds, so for me these are just small cakes or cup cakes which have a delicious coating of strawberry jam and dessicated coconut. These cakes come out beautifully each and every time and no matter how many I make they are never enough.

Note: These cakes need to be ideally baked in individual cup cake moulds, but I do not have those and baked them in a muffin tray which worked just fine

I have followed the recipe from the book word to word, and here it is for you.

Ingredients:
- 115 gms sugar
- 115 gms butter
- 2 medium eggs
- 115 gms self-raising flour
- 1/2 tspn lemon or vanilla essence (I used vanilla)
- 1/2 tea cup milk approx
- red jam (I used strawberry jam)
- dessicated coconut
Method:
- Sieve the flour
- Cream the butter and sugar very well until light and creamy
- Beat the eggs well
- Add a little of the egg mixture to the butter and sugar and beat well. Gradually go on adding eggs beating well all the time. If the mixture curdles, add a little flour ,mix well and then continue adding the eggs.
- Add the sieved flour and enough milk till the batter has a dropping consistency.
- Add the essence.
- Grease and dust your muffin tray or the cake moulds and fill upto 3/4 with the cake mixture.
- Bake at 400 deg F for around 20 mins.
- Cool the cakes
- Warm the jam and brush the cakes with the melted jam.
- Roll the cakes in dessicated coconut.
The cakes are now ready to eat. Try these they are simple to make and taste awesome

10:13
Diet Program ~ Day 14
» ‎ Spice your Life

#fullpost{display:none;} I feel bad for not having recorded my schedule, though I have been strictly following it. Except for the Sunday there has not been much of a deviation. 7. 30 am - Coffee with biscuits
8.30 am - 1 roti
11.30 am - Buttermilk
12.30 pm - Carrot
1.15 pm - 2 pulkas, with Brinjal Dal, Green Fry5.30 pm - 3 biscuits9.00 pm - 3 Brown Bread Sandwich with Spinach spread.
This was very tasty, spinach boiled, then sauteed with masala till dry and topped on bread. Will post a detailed recipe on this with better picture.
Hope things are going fine with everybody who is following the diet!

1:00
Vanilla Vanilla Cup Cakes
» ‎ My Kitchen Treasures

Vanilla Vanilla Cup Cakes

February 21, 2010
21:15
Spicy Egg Curry
» ‎ Finger Licking Food

Spicy Egg Curry

19:51
Just One Tiny Grain of Sand…
» ‎ Out Of The Garden

“Oh, the mud splattered victims Have to pay out all along the ancient highway Torn between half truth and victimisation Fighting back with counter attacks… It’s when that rough god goes riding When the rough god goes gliding And then rough god goes riding Riding on in… “ – Van Morrison Little by little, day by day, I am packing up my life here [...]

15:57
Baigan mirchi ka salan
» ‎ Chutki Bhar pyar

Baigan ka salan is a very famous Hyderabadi dish which is eaten along side biryani. I wanted to try this from a long time but just now got the time. When I saw searching for this authentic recipe I came across this site. Got this awesome recipe and I had to try it. I made this salan as a side for phulkas. The main recipe calls only for baigans (eggplants) but I also went ahead and added some

6:18
Mississippi Mud Cake
» ‎ Tangerine's Kitchen Hangout!

I love the name (Mississippi Mud Cake) for the most part. Never had, heard or seen one. So I read on it when I read the choice of this cake for this month on the Cake Slice Bakes. According to what I have been reading on the internet, the mud cake was derived from the ever popular dessert, the mud pie. This messy pie is nothing but a chocolate pie with a crusty top that resembles mud of the Mississippi river! The mud cake is said to be a more delicious form of the pie. The crust in the pie is replaced in the cake with a fudgy brownie of pecans or walnuts.It is topped with icecream and frozen. This is again topped with cream and chocolate sauce. Now who could resist that whether they resemble mud or not. I could never. The cake slice version of the mud cake is where the brownie is topped with marshmallows followed by a rich sweet chocolate sauce.
What you need for this are: Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott
Makes one 13 x 9 inch sheet cake

For the Cake:

226g unsalted butter, cut into biug chunks½ cup cocoa powder4 eggs, beaten well1 tsp vanilla extract2 cups sugar 1½ cups all purpose flour¼ tsp salt1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used roasted walnuts )

For the Mississippi Mud Frosting:

3¼ cups confectioners sugar½ cup cocoa powder113g unsalted butter, melted½ cup milk or evaporated milk1 tsp vanilla extract4 cups mini marshmallows or 3 cups large marshmallows quartered

Method for the Cake:

1) Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan. In a medium saucepan combine the butter and cocoa powder and cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, until the butter is melted and the mixture is well blended, about 3 – 4 minutes. Stir in the beaten eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour, salt and pecans and beat until the batter is well combined and the flour has disappeared.
2) Quickly pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cake springs back when touched gently in the centre and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.
3) While the cake bakes, prepare the frosting so it is ready to pour over the hot cake.

Method for the Mud Frosting:

1) In a medium bowl combine the confectioners sugar and the cocoa powder and stir to mix well. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla and beat everything together well. Set aside until the cake is done.

To Serve:

1) Remove the cake from the oven, scatter the marshmallows over the top and then return the cake to the hot oven for about 3 minutes to soften the marshmallows.
2) Place the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack. Pour the frosting all over the marshmallow dotted cake and eat straight away or allow to cool to room temperature. Cut the cake into squares and serve.

I halved the recipe and cut down on the amount of sugar in both the cake and the frosting after having read about it being sweet in the reviews. A fudgy delight is what I would term this. The topping of marshmallow chocolatey goodness is amazingly good. And yes, if you want to indulge yourself in ooey-gooey chocolate bountiness, this is the recipe for you!Subscribe to my space!

4:24
Kid's Delight Wholesome Breakfast Round up - Next theme!
» ‎ Spice your Life

From my personal experience, there is no better teacher than your child. Be it for patience, knowledge, smartness or being innovative in cooking. One maybe the greatest chefs of all time, yet the stumbling block will be preparing a meal that a kid will love without making faces. Or at the worst, ignoring your and your plate outright!
I have faced many such incident with my daughter and have always been in search of new things that will interest her. Every year one item catches her fancy. It maybe the bane or the benefit for me, that continues for the whole year. Try you may, yet you can't actually find a reason for the fancy, simply can't. I have done that, and left it at that, deciding that it at times works out to be a blessing in disguise for me. I am not up to question such blessings.
Last year Konda's favorite item was Dosas, this year it has been bread. Anytime, every time you offer a bread and say you will make a variety with it, she is happy. she has been after me for sending her Bread Jam for lunch. With a loaf always in stock, I find most of my woes are answered. But I feel guilty taking advantage of that.
Well to make the story short, this is the reason behind this event. I have now about 50 great ideas to help me ensure she gets something interesting to eat for breakfast. I have already tried some of them and she was trilled to know these were sent for her. So thank you very much for sending along these entries and making my little girl happy.
Before we check out the entries, lets see what the next one going to be!
The next one in the series will be Kid's delight ~ Wholesome Snacks.

Please use this Logo,

For a better idea, check out what wiki says about snacks

I have to pack a snack for my daughter. Most times I resort to store bought snacks or fruits or biscuits. so I am definitely looking for ideas to get this done at home.

Rules are same, Entries should be fit for a kid's snack box. Please read the Kid's Delight page for more details on this event. As previously I will be trying out the entries myself too. So I welcome your suggestions too.

The entries can be something you cooked for your own child or for a child in your family, friends etc. Or even enjoyed as a kid yourself.

The last date to send in the entries will be March 20th 2010.

The entry Form is below, an email notification will be sent to all participants on submission. Please mail me if you don't get an auto notification.

Now lets check out the breakfasts, shall we?

I have categories based either on the type of breakfast or the mode of cooking. I hope this list will help many moms!

***************************************************
Of all the many beautiful things, baked dishes capture my fancy most. Maybe it's got to do with the many fiction I used to devour as a kid, but somehow those freshly baked loaves, or the soft buns or those tempting muffins, are one of a kind.
We have four entries coming under this, each vying for attention. I guess we can grab all of them anyways!
For Ambika, it is the fantasy of brown bread that held her thoughts since childhood. She used to get treat with her granny eating only this. So inspiration struck which made her bake these lovely Whole Wheat Oats Potato Bread, oats rolled in as a bonus!

Were you ever kindled to recreate your childhood fancies? I am sure there were many. And I was pleased reading about Kalai's Stuffed Croissants which she calls as FAN-tastic Croissants
Lataji shares with us a recipe that her daughter tried and was a hit. I am sure these Potato Buns will be as truly tempting as she makes it sound!
If you are keen on eggless and on muffins, I am sure you will be excited reading about Renu's Eggless Blueberry Muffin, which are a perfect breakfast treat with milk, I seriously think I make this for myself!
********************************************************
We then move on the next category of dishes that are my most favorite ones, you ask which is not? Well keep asking! Dosas, Adais and Pancakes, you have your choice and choose what you may!
Asha comes with a bang every week to give us a visual treat. This time she makes this Mixed Dal Adai, which is a very healthy way to start the day, be it for kids or adults!
Indrani's Chocolate Pancake is already a hit at home with my daughter as I have made this couple of times already!. Tell me who will not love to feast on chocolate?
Madhuri has the perfect solution for those rush hour mornings with her Healthy Savoury Pancakes. They loved it and she wishes we do, yeah yeah I am sure we will do too!
Nisha loves these Oats Rava Cheela that she learnt from a friend of hers. Since she was sending to this event, she added some veggies too as bonus!
Having a packet of soya beans lying around unnoticed, Pari decided Soybean Rice Adai was the best solution. This takes care of a healthy breakfast in place!

For PJ, who shares the usual love for idlis and dosas, resorts to this Multi Flour Dosa as an answer to avoid those long hours of grinding and soaking. I agree on that! And this works out best when you kid suddenly ask for some.
Then we have some 4 awesome entries from Priya, as I always say her family is one lucky lot. Not only does she make many varieties, she makes them healthy too!. Check out her Barley Paruppu Adai, Oats Pesarattu, Sprouted Moongdal & Barley Masala Dosa and finally her delicious Instant Cornmeal & Oats Dosai. Thank you for the great service you do priya!
This wonderful Multi Legume Dosai with Sesame seeds comes from the famous duo of the A 2 Z Veg' Cuisine. Well Sadana says she goes to the extent of peeling of the peanut skin if the child wants it so.
Innovation starts at home and I saw it beautiful depicted with Sowjanya's All Egg Dosa. This is a wonderful dosa topped with egg on which another layer of Tomato tokku goes, how awesome. I am sure kids will loves great looking one!
And finally from me the pancake that I tried from Indrani, these tasty chocolate pancake that Konda simply loved!

*************************************Next we move on to Idiyappam, Noodles, Pasta, how rhyming right!
Divya said she will send an entry that she loved as a kid. I am sure many of us do. Ragi Idiyappam is such a wonderful healthy way to enjoy the idiyappams!

Imagine my jaws drooping reading that Roma's little daughter loves Capsicum! She makes this Pasta with Fusilli combined with capsicums and served with Butter Toasts. Now I wish my kids eat those too!
Simplyfood makes this aromatic Baby Corn Carrot Noodles, since these are quick to get done, you have breakfast or lunch ready in minutes!
Veggie Noodle Nests are very interesting way to serve Idiyappam along with kurma from Sowjanya. she packs it with veggies, which is a sure way to get the kids eat the veggies.
Then from me, a quick vermicelli upma, for on the run!
**************************************
Then we have some cool paniyarams making their way.

We have Champa re defining paniyaram by making Ragi Banana Paniyaram, which I have already tried and loved!

Then we have Kamala Bhoopathy sending us two exciting dishes, Vegetable Kuzhi Paniyaram and the other Green Gram Sweet Kuzhi Paniyaram.

Seeing Champa's beautiful paniyaram, I tried for my daughter and she loved it, these Ragi Banana Paniyaram is just too good.

********************************
We then move to the Roti, Parathas, Pooris entries! How yum!
Reading this entry from Jayasree, I empathize how creative we ought to become. Her Veggie puris has a long story behind it. Read it yourself!
Kalai makes this tempting Sweet Potato Wraps with homemade masalas and feels rejuvenated remembering her childhood. I am sure kids love these ready to eat wraps!
PJ makes this delicious Masala chapathi with vegetables, sure way to sneak veggies into your kid's diet!

We have another lovely entry from Priya, this time a Soya Flour & Dill Paratha, because she loves soya and wanted to make it more aromatic!
If you are in a mood for a Gujarati Methi Thepla, then I suggest you check out Simplyfood's entry!
Lie if you may or plead if you may, result is to get your kid eat the healthy food! This is how Spice gets her child eat those Ragi Rotis.
*****************************************Next on the list are some lovely sandwiches
First we have a Colourful Heart Sandwiches and Double Flavoured Toasts from Shoba Shrinivasan. She is always on the lookout to make food look very attractive for her daughter.
Then we have a Sub inspired Vegetable Sandwich coming from Silpa. They love these so much that she found a way to make it at home to enjoy!

Suma sends us a French Toast With An Orange Twist. A sure way to satisfy your sweet craving and a way to please kids and adults at the same time.
Egg Sandwich comes all the way from Tazaika. These are her kid's favorite ones, and she is happy that it is a healthy wholesome meal on its own!

****************************************Then we move to catch up with some steamed dishes!

Saraswathi sends us this Masala Idlis, which surely perks up a dull moment!
And if you find your kid refusing to partake an idli, I am sure you will be interested to read Sowjanya who makes these Kadubu Idli or tower idli. Do read on her wonderful story about a temple visit.

Spice calls her Dhokla as Spicy Multi-Legume Cakes. Wonder why? She says she makes it with 4 different lentils, I am sure it sounds very interesting!

I like the rhyming of this entry Puttum Payarum Pinae Pappadavum from Swathi. I simply love the healthy options kerala cuisine has to offer us!

************************************

Then we have some exciting other entries which were unique on their own.

Champa sends in one awesome looking Whole Grain Waffles with apple butter, which makes me want to reach out.

Then we have a Mixed Vegetable Curry With Spices And Nuts from Kalva. She says her daughter loves this along with rotis.

Kelsey was all eager to make this awesome wholesome Cherry Vanilla Oatmeal, which makes a breakfast all worth it.

Madhuri ooh-la-la…tasting her first bite of this Oats Kharabhath. Now who says one shouldn't make tasty food while on diet. Well the question is from her ok!

Pearls and Gems, Pearls and Gems for breakfast!! Wondering what these are? Well that was how Nevidita piqued my curiosity by tweeting me and FBing me on the entry. Curious, well check it out yourself. I am only glad her kid loves this.

Radhika sends us this Thiruvadhirai Kali that she made for breakfast which her kids liked so much. Seeing the recipe, makes me want to try it soon.

Then we have a Tri-Color Bell Peppers Omelette coming from Tigerfish. She says she has been trying to incorporate all colours in food. She talks about rainbow diet to toddlers and infants, wow!

And finally a sweet dish to end the event, a moong Dal Halwa from Priyanka. Her son loved it so much that she is for sure going to make it often!.

************************************************I am sure that was one wonderful round up. I would like to thank all participants for sending in their entries. If I have missed out any entry, pls let me know, it shall be amended right away.

February 20, 2010
17:00
KEERAI PARUPPU PORIYAL/GREENS STIR FRY WITH LENTILS
» ‎ Gita's Kitchen

This is a stir-fry my mom makes regularly. She uses greens like amaranth or drumstick leaves. This is made as a side dish with rice and any spicy gravies, particularly seafood dishes. The best combination which I like the most is meen kuzmbu, fish fry, and this stir fry made with drumstick leaves. This is also comfort food for my sister and I. Sadly I don’t get drumstick leaves here, which is my favorite, but I did get a chance to taste many different ones like Swiss Chard, collard greens, turnip greens etc. I keep all of them in my freezer and this is very easy to make any side dishes with greens in just minutes. This time I have made this dish with collard greens. Collard greens have a slight bitter taste, so I have used one small tomato. This can be omitted if any other less bitter green like spinach is used.

INGREDIENTS:
1. Collard greens, 1 bunch.
2. Small onions, 2.
3. Tomato, 1.
4. Green chilies, 1-2.
5. Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon (optional).
6. Mung dhal or green gram, ¼ cup.
7. Mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon.
8. Cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon.
9. Salt as per taste.

PREPARATION:
Precook the dhal until they are cooked but the dhal is still whole and has a bite to it. This can be done either on stove top by cooking the dhal in a pot with enough water to immerse the dhal and cooked for 10-15 or microwave for 10 minutes. Wash the greens and chop it finely. Dice the onions and tomatoes and slit the green chilies into 2. Heat a pan with some oil. When the oil turns hot, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the cumin seeds and fry for a few seconds. Now add the diced onions and sauté for a few minutes until the onions turn translucent. Then add the chopped tomatoes, chilies, ginger-garlic paste and keep sautéing until everything is well blended. Add some salt along with the chopped greens and dhal and mix everything well. Cook closed under low flame for 5-10 minutes until the greens are wilted and all the water is absorbed. Serve hot with rice.

A tablespoon of grated coconut can be added after switching off the stove. Even around ½ teaspoon of ground cumin seeds can be added in the end.Gita's Kitchen

10:29
Paharkai pitlai / Bitter gourd gravy- Tamilnadu style
» ‎ Creative saga...

When I made this for the first time a couple of years ago , I did not like the taste. Somehow the south indian spices did not seem to work well the bitter bittergourds!!I had made a similar thing...

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