Chilka Urad and Chana dal

Simple dal is a part of most comfortable meal in our daily life.I like experimenting dals in combination like toor with moong,moong with masoor,chana dal with whole moong dal,chana dal with chilka urad etc..This dal tastes definitely different in its texture also from regular dal and suites best as a side dish with roti's or pulao's.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp Chana dal
2 tbsp Chilka Urad dal(split black urad dal)
1 big tomato,finely chopped
1 medium onion,finely chopped
1/2" ginger ,finely grated
4-5 garlic pods,finely grated
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1 green chilli, slit
1/2 tsp jeera
a pinch of haldi/turmeric
a pinch of hing
1 tbsp chopped coriander
salt to taste
oil and ghee for tempering

Method:

• Wash and soak chana and urad dal mixed for 10 mins.Add a pinch of turmeric to it.pressure cook dal for 2 whistles and reduce the flame and let it cook for 5-7 mins.
• Heat oil and fry ginger and garlic and then add finely chopped onion and fry until it is brown in color.Add tomatoes and cook until it is mushy and add this to the dal mixture and let it come to a boil.Add salt and mix.
• Add ghee in a tadka pan crackle jeera,slit green chilli,coriander powder,jeera powder,garam masala powder and hing.
• Add the tadka to the dal and give a mix properly and add chopped coriander to it.

Serve it hot with hot rice/jeera rice/pulao or roti/paratha.

Simple Eggless Orange flavored Sponge Cake

The whole Blogosphere is full of Christmas celebrations showcasing different cookies,fruit cakes and special festive food in their beautiful blogs for this perfect occasion.Earlier,even I had some plans to bake a special fruit cake inspired by our enthu bloggers who started the preparations almost few weeks before for this christmas.Last week was completely hectic for me as my cousins visited us and we had a great time eating all possible food outside and have done tonnes of shopping with them.Due to the weather change I immediately caught cold and then cough and slight fever,I was down the complete last week with sore throat and spent the whole week swallowing N number of medicines and syrup's.So,I dropped my idea of baking cake which is loaded with loads of fat and calories.However I had a cake post pending in my draft from so many days seeking its attention,so thought of posting it for christmas even though it is not made for it.
And coming to the cake recipe,this is a eggless cake which I made for my mom (as she does not eat egg )during my last visit to Bangalore.When I saw this recipe here a couple of month's back I loved the color and texture of the cake and I bookmarked it to prepare it for my mom especially.
I halved the recipe and almost followed the same method,just that I added apple cider vinegar and some extra sugar to the original recipe.The outcome was just fantastic,the cake was really moist,fluffy and loaded with orange flavor.This is definitely a fool proof eggless recipe which I treasure to treat the people who does not eat egg.No one can just say seeing the texture that it is eggless,please give a try to treat the pure vegetarians with this fool proof eggless sponge cake recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup(190 gms) Refined flour/Maida
1/2 can(200 gms/ml) Condensed Milk
1/2 cup(125 gms) melted Butter,at room temperature
1/2 cup(125 ml) Orange Juice
3 tbsp powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 tsp Apple cider Vinegar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Orange Zest

Method:

• Preheat the Oven @ 180 deg for 10 mins.
• Line and grease a 8 inch square tin with butter and dust well with flour.
• Sift the flour with baking powder and baking soda into a bowl and keep it aside.
• In another bowl mix well with a hand whisker melted butter,condensed milk,orange juice,powdered sugar,vanilla essence and apple cider vinegar until everything is mixed well.
• Make a well in the sifted flour mixture and pour the whisked wet ingredients mixture in the center and gently mix the mixture until you get a smooth and uniform mixture without lumps.
• Add orange zest to it and mix well.
• Pour the mixture into the greased square tin and tap it twice to remove the air bubbles formed if any.
• Place this pan in the center of the oven and bake it for 35-40 mins until the crust is golden brown in color or if the tooth pick comes out clean when inserted into it.
• After 5 mins remove it from the pan and let it cool on the wire rack.Cut into square wedges and serve.
• Store it in the air tight container.

I wish all the bloggers and my readers MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR. Will catch you all in the new year.Till then enjoy your holidays and if possible will catch you with another post in this year.

Baby Potatoes in Red Coriander Sauce

When I saw this recipe in Nag's blog almost 2 months back I liked the simplicity of ingredients used in making this curry , I tried it almost immediately but forgot posting it and was lying in my drafts from so long.The curry was so simple and flavorful which was made with minimun effort and ingredients available at home.However I modified the recipe a little bit to suit our taste buds,I added fried onions to the curry in order to balance the tangyness from the tamarind pulp and it turned out to be a perfect combination with roti's.

Ingredients:

12-15 baby potatoes
2 medium onions,finely sliced
1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 1/2 tsp jeera seeds
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp thick tamarind pulp
1 pureed tomato
A sprig of curry leaves
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

• Boil the potatoes in water or pressure cook for 2 whistles.Let them cool.Peel the skin.
• Grind the coriander seeds with cumin seeds and garlic cloves to a coarse paste.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan add ground paste,tamarind pulp and tomato puree,salt,sugar and curry leaves.Cook on low flame until oil separates.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and caramelize the sliced onions on medium flame until golden brown in color.Add a pinch of sugar to it while frying.
• Add potatoes to the gravy and stir well and cook for 2 mins.Add fried onions to it and mix well.Reserve some fried onions for garnish.
  
• Garnish with coriander leaves and some fried onions.
  

Serve it hot with roti's or pulao's.

Vegetable Dum Biriyani... using ready made Biriyani paste

Vegetable Biriyani is a perfect feast for any occasion or a party.Even though it takes a lot of time to prepare this,the final dish is all worth the effort that you took in making it.Biriyani tastes the best when it is freshly made at home,but sometimes I try using ready made masala paste in order to ease the process in making it when I don't have much time to prepare fresh masala which involves lots of frying and grinding process.If you would have checked my earlier post I need not to mention that there was a reason behind making this yummy vegetable biriyani.Anyways if you have not seen my earlier post,I prepared this for my marriage anniversary last week and is the last dish from my anniversary menu.

Ingredients:

1 carrot,sliced into 1" pieces
1 potato,sliced into 1" pieces
10-12 french beans,chopped into 1" pieces
10-12 cauliflower florets
1/4 cup green peas,fresh/frozen
1 capsicum,sliced into 1"pieces
2 big onions,thinly sliced
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
2 tbsp biriyani paste,I used MTR biriyani masala
8-10 cashewnuts
1/4 cup curd,beaten till smooth
few strands of saffron
1 tbsp milk to soak saffron
a pinch of sugar
salt to taste
2 tsp butter
2 tsp oil

To make rice:
1 1/2 cups Basmati rice
1 " cinnamon stick
3-4 cloves
1 Black cardamom
1 biriyani leaf
1/2 tsp royal cumin seeds(shajeera)
salt to taste
1 tsp Butter



Method:

Step 1 To make rice:

• Wash and soak rice for 10-12 mins and drain the rice and keep it aside.
• Heat 1 tsp butter in a deep pan and add cinnamon,shajeera,cloves,cardamom,biriyani leaf and fry for half a minute and add rice and fry for a minute.
• Add 2 and 1/2 cups of water and enough salt to it and bring it to a boil and simmer it and close the lid and cook it until the rice is done.
• After the rice is completely cooled make the rice fluffy with a fork and keep it aside.

Step 2 To caramelize Onions and cashews:

• Heat 1 tsp butter in a pan add cashewnuts and fry until brown and keep it aside.Throw in the sliced onions and fry for some time.
• Add a pinch of sugar to it and let it caramelize until brown.keep it aside.

Step 3 Saffron milk:

Heat the milk and dissolve the saffron in it and let it stand for 15 mins.

Step 4 To make the vegetable gravy :

• Heat 1 tsp butter and 2 tsp oil and add ginger garlic paste and fry for half a minute.Add the chopped vegetables(other than capsicum) one by one and fry until crisp.
• Add capsicum and fry for a minute and biriyani paste and fry for some time.Add some water(about 2 tbsp water) and salt required for the vegetables(remember you added enough salt even for rice) and keep it aside.

Step 5 To assemble the Biriyani:

• Preheat the oven @ 160 deg for 10 mins.
• Grease a flat oven proof glass bowl with butter and place a layer of half portion vegetables and then continue by a layer of half portion fluffed up rice.Pour half the caramelized onions, beaten curds over it and some saffron milk and repeat doing the same process for one more layer of vegetables,rice,fried onions,fried cashew nuts,curds and saffron milk.
• Cover it with a aluminum foil and place it in oven and bake for 20-25 mins.

Slightly mix the biriyani and serve it hot with raitha and some gravy.


I am sending this entry for "EFM-Variety Rice Series" event hosted at Me and My Kitchen.

Hara Bhara Kabab

I love the green color of these kabab's and is one of our family's favourite starter and also is very ideal for a party snack.TH does not like me spending time in kitchen on a holiday and no need to say on a occasion,this time he gave a prior notice to me that I should not be cooking anything on our anniversary (excuses for tea..ofcourse!!!) and we planned our special day for a movie and few trips to the restaurants.But somehow I could not accept that I would not be preparing anything on the special occasion,so I thought of celebrating the day in advance with my home food.So I prepared veg dum biriyani and hara bhara kabab's in order to compensate the actual day celebrations at home.

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes,boiled
1/2 cup green peas,boiled
1 cup fresh spinach,washed and pat dried
10-12 cashew nuts,halved
2-3 green chillies
1 1/2 " ginger,chopped
1/4 cup besan(chickpea flour)
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp amchur powder
1 1/2 tsp chaat masala
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
salt to taste

Method:

• Dry roast besan until nice aroma comes from it.Turn off the stove and keep it aside.
  
• Blanch spinach in hot water for 5 mins.Refresh in cold water,drain and squeeze water from it.Try to remove all the excess liquid from it.
  
• Grind spinach with ginger,green chillies to a coarse paste(do not add water).Add boiled and drained green peas to it and grind in whipper mode until thick coarse paste.
• Grate the boiled potato and add the ground mixture,roasted besan and all the masala's,salt and mix well.
• Grease your hand and make small round tikki's and press a cashew gently into it.Follow the same procedure to do the remaining tikki's.Place them in refrigerator for sometime(for about 1 hr to set properly).
• Shallow fry in oil on medium flame for 2-3mins until brown in color.(I placed them on a tava which is smeared with oil and fried on both sides on low flame with just 2 tsp oil).
• Sprinkle some chaat masala all over before serving.
  

Serve hot with Green chutney/Tomato sauce/Dahi chutney.

These kabab's are going to participate in EC's -Tea Time Snacks Event.

Chequered Cake.......Anniversary Special...!!!

When I saw sunita's Chequered cake I just fell in love with the technique which she mentioned for making the chequered cake without the use of any special pan meant for that purpose.I loved it so much that I have decided to make that for our third marriage anniversary(yesterday,6th dec).Check sunita's Eggless chequered cake version here for a detailed description.I personally thank sunita for posting the easy version of this chequered cake which I wanted to try from so long.
I wanted to make the classic yellow sponge and chocolate sponge cake to form the chequer pattern and I simply followed Nita mehta's recipe for making the cake.As I made it on a special occasion I made it rich by applying the cream all over the cake in order to make it bit special to suit the celebrations.
This time the marriage celebrations were more fun as we did a live telecast to our parents and in-laws over the internet while we were cutting the cake.Finally there was someone to clap and sing for us and took part of the celebrations along with us even though they were not around.
I was so tensed upto the time I cut the cake and when I saw the chequered pattern I was overwhelmed with joy and it was all worth the effort.The cake was very moist and light in taste and was a perfect cake for the special day.

Ingredients:

For yellow sponge :
3/4 cup Refined flour/Maida
2 Eggs,at room temperature
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup powdered Sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp leveled baking powder

For chocolate sponge:
1/2 cup Refined flour/Maida
1/4 cup Cocoa powder
2 Eggs,at room temperature
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup + 2tsp powdered Sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp leveled baking powder

For Cream:
2 cups thick cream(chill the cream tetra pack without shaking the pack,take only thick part and discard any water content)
1/2 cup powdered Sugar

For decoration:
100 gms Chocolate
1 Pack of cherries
8-10 Almonds
8-10 pistachios
1 tbsp cocoa powder

For the Sugar Syrup:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
4 to 5 drops of lemon(optional)

Method:

Yellow Sponge:

• Line a 9" round tin with a baking paper and grease it with oil and as well the sides of tin.
• Sift flour and baking powder together.
• Separate egg whites from the yolks.
• Beat egg whites in clean dry bowl till fluffy.
• Add Sugar gradually,beating till thick,fluffy and retains shape.
• Beat in the yolks and essence till thick and fluffy again.
• Add oil gradually,beating till thick again.
• Fold in flour gently with a wooden or metal spoon,by sprinking evenly in 2-3 batches.
• Pour mixture into tin and level the top.Tap the tin gently to get rid of any large air bubbles.
• Bake in preheated oven at 180 deg for 20 mins.
• Insert knife or skewer in the center of cake,if it comes out clean ,remove tin from oven.After 5 mins,remove cake from tin onto a wire rack and let it cool.Cool the pan completely before proceeding to make the chocolate sponge.
  

Chocolate Sponge:
Follow the same procedure as the yellow sponge cake just that add cocoa powder and sieve all the ingredients in the second step.

Sugar Syrup:
Boil water along with sugar until it forms a nice syrupy liquid,strain the water and let it cool.Add lemon juice to it and mix and keep it in fridge.

Cream to spread:

• Beat the cream on medium speed till thick.
• Only after it turns thick,then add powdered sugar and continue beating on high speed till you get the soft peaks.Chill it for some time.
• Divide the mixture into 3 parts.Reserve one part for topping the cake.
• Add very finely chopped cherries to the cream and gently fold in.
• Take out 3-4 spoons of whipped cream from the third portion and mix with 1 tbsp cocoa powder and pour it into the cone made up of baking paper and let it stand in a glass and keep it in the refrigerator until its usage.
  

Assembling the cake:

• Level the cake gently using a knife(to cut) to form a uniform surface.
• Based on the size of your cake take 2-3 cutters which form similar symmetric hollow circles gives 1" width for each circle.As I did not have cookie cutters I used steel containers from my kitchen cupboard.
• Gently press the cake with the cutters to get different symmetric circles and place them aside .
• Place a chocolate sponge on the serving platter.Apply plain cream to the inner circles of the cake and apply cream again.Do the same with the remaining 1-2 circles to form first layer of the cake.Follow the same procedure to make the second layer and keep it aside.
• Pour the lemon-sugar syrup mixture all over the cake to make it enough moist.
• Apply a thin layer of cream(mixed with finely chopped candied cherries) and place the second layer of the cake.
• Pour again the lemon-sugar syrup mixture all over the cake to make it enough moist.
• Apply the plain cream all over the cake and make sure that it is uniformly applied all over and on the sides.
• Stick the finely sliced almonds,pistachios and chocolate shavings on the sides of the cake according to your taste or like I have done for my cake.
• Sieve gently the cocoa powder on top of the cake all over.(And slowly write the message using the cone).This step is completely of your choice and to your creativity.do it in the way you want.
  

Chill it in the refrigerator and slice it gently and serve chilled.



Note:

• I used a ready mix whipped cream packet for making cream and it took hardly 3 mins for me to finish up the whipping process.
• Slice the cake using sharp knife dipped in hot water to get clean cake wedges.

Enjoy the slice of cake with a cup of tea.

Yard long beans - Chana dal Stir fry

Yard long beans when combined with chana dal makes an excellent combination for rice as well as roti.Beans,dal and garlic chilli powder adds a unique taste to the curry which is very well balanced in flavor.

Ingredients:

1 Bunch of Yard long beans
1/2 cup chana dal
1 big Onion,finely chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A sprig of curry leaves
2 garlic cloves,chopped and crushed
Oil

To grind:
5-6 dry red chillies
2-3 tbsp grated dry coconut
4-5 garlic cloves
salt to taste


Method:

• Wash and wipe the yard long beans and chop them into 1/2 inch pieces.
• Pressure cook chana dal for 1 whistle or cook it on stove top until it is done.Take care that the dal will not become mushy.Drain it and keep aside
• To make Garlic Chilli powder grind red chillies along with grated dry coconut and salt to a coarse powder.Add garlic cloves to it at the end and grind again.
• Heat oil in a deep bottomed tawa and crackle mustard seeds.
• Add crushed garlic,curry leaves and fry for a minute.Add finely chopped onions and fry until they are translucent.
• Add the chopped beans and fry for 2-3 mins.Cover it with a deep bottom plate and fill it with water and let the beans cook on steam for 12-15 mins until the beans are tender.
• Add chana dal to it and fry for 4-5 mins.
• Add the ground spice powder to it and mix and let it cook for a couple of minutes.
• Remove it from fire and serve hot.
  

Serve it hot with hot rice and fryums/papad or serve it with roti.

Note:
You can use cluster beans/gawarphali/goru chikkudu instead of yard long beans in this recipe and follow the same procedure.Just that you need to parboil o pressure cook cluster beans before proceding to make the curry instead of steam cooking it.

This is going to participate in MLLA-18 hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons event started by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Lemon Rasam

No South Indian meal is complete with out rasam and there are so many varieties of rasam's which are prepared at our home.This is one of the most simple rasam's which can be prepared in a matter of 5 mins provided you have cooked dal in your hand already.Cooked dal is tempered with ginger and green chillies and lemon juice is added to give the tangy ness to the rasam instead of adding tamarind pulp.This can be even savored as a soup when you are ill.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Toor dal/Masoor dal/Moong dal
4-5 green chillies,slitted
1/4 tsp turmeric/haldi
1/4 tsp finely chopped ginger(optional)
2-3 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped coriander
salt to taste

for Tadka:
1 tsp Cumin seeds/jeera
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
8-10 curry leaves
6-8 black peppercorns,slightly crushed
a pinch of hing/asafoetida
1 tsp ghee



Method:

• Pressure cook dal with little turmeric for 3 whistles until soft.Mash it with a back of laddle slightly.
• Add in enough water ,salt and let it come to a boil.
• In the Mean while heat ghee in the tadka pan and crackle mustard seeds and jeera.Add finely chopped ginger,crushed black pepper and green chillies and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add curry leaves and hing and mix well.Pour this into the boiling rasam and add coriander leaves and let it boil.
• Now mix it properly and switch off the stove.
• Add lemon juice and give a stir.
  

Serve hot with rice,any vegetable fry and papad.

Note:

• If you use masoor dal,you can directly cook it on the stove for 10-12 minutes and then proceed with the same procedure.
• Though moong dal and Toor dal can be cooked on the stove top,it takes bit longer to get cooked.So better cook them in the pressure cooker.
• Add lemon at the end after you switch off the stove,otherwise it will turn bitter.

Potlakaya Kobbari kura/Snakegourd-Coconut curry

This is a simple stir fry made up of snake gourd and goes well with rice.In our house mom rarely cooked anything with this vegetable so even I was not fancy about this vegetable and even after my marriage I never thought of buying this vegetable.But a blogger in me is tempting me these days to buy all sorts of vegetables and experiment with them.So whenever my MIL visits us I make sure that I get to learn some Andhra recipes from her and this one is one among them which I learnt when she visited us recently.

Ingredients:

1 long snake gourd(potlakaaya)
1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
3-4 green chillies
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp chana dal
a sprig of curry leaves
1/4 tsp haldi
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil


Method:

• Cut snake gourd length wise and scoop out the flesh inside and cut into thin slices.
• Heat oil in a kadai and crackle mustard seeds,add chana dal and urad dal fry for a minute.Add curry leaves and fry for half a minute.
• Add snake gourd slices and cook for a minute.Now add salt and turmeric to it and mix properly.Cover with a deep plate filled with water and let it cook on steam on low heat for 12-15 until snake gourd pieces are soft and done by stirring it occasionally.
• Grind grated coconut and green chillies to a coarse paste.
• Add this coconut mixture to the cooked vegetable and mix with it properly and let it cook on open for two mins.Remove it from heat.

Serve it with hot rice,rasam and papad.

Gobi Kasoori

Gobi is one of my favorite vegetable and I always like experimenting different curries with it and this is one among those experiments which I tried recently from my collection of Sanjeev Kapoor's recipes.Normally I do add kasuri methi to the curries and gravies but in a smaller quantity.But this recipe calls for more quantity of kasuri methi which caught my attention to try it immediately.The original recipe mentioned 1/2 cup of kasuri methi,as I did not have that much quantity at that time I used only 1/4 cup and I was also not sure whether more quantity of kasuri methi can make the curry little bitter or not.But the outcome was so tasty and actually it enhanced the taste of the curry with its unique flavor.

Ingredients:

1 medium cauliflower
1/4 cup dried kasuri methi(2-3 tbsp)
2 medium onions,chopped
4 green chillies,chopped
2 medium tomatoes,chopped
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 cup yogurt/curd
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
salt to taste
1+1/2 " ginger
10 garlic cloves
1 tbsp oil
oil to deep fry


Method:

• Separate gobi into florets.
• Grind ginger garlic into a fine paste.
• Heat oil (enough for deep fry) in a kadai and once it is hot drop the gobi florets and fry them until golden brown.Drain on absorbent paper to remove excess oil.(Here I avoided deep frying and roasted gobi florets in 1 tsp of oil on low flame until crisp)
• Dry roast kasuri methi slightly on a tawa/pan on medium heat.cool it and powder it.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan add mustard seeds and allow to crackle.Add onions and cook until golden brown in color.
• Add green chillies and saute along with onions.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and stir for a moment.Add tomatoes and stir.Add half cup of water,cover and cook.
• Add coriander powder,turmeric powder and mix.Add beaten curds to it and stir well.cook on high heat for 5mins.
• Add fried cauliflower and mix well.Add salt and kasuri methi powder and mix.
• Cook for 5-7 mins and serve hot.

Serve it with Roti/Chapathy/Paratha.

Aratikaaya pachi pulusu/Raw Banana in tangy tamarind stew

Pachi pulusu is something that can be made in jiffy as it does not require any cooking process.It is made up of diluted tamarind pulp with finely chopped onions and green chillies and adjusted the sourness of tamarind by adding equal quantity of jaggery and some salt to taste.When I run out of time or I really need some zing to my taste buds I generally prepare pachi pulusu.Where as this is a new version of it by adding mashed raw banana and sesame powder which makes it still more yummier and also some cooking process is involved.This is a completed balanced flavorful stew which tickles your tongue with its unique taste.Try it to enjoy the flavors of it.

Ingredients:

2 Raw banana's
1 big lemon sized Tamarind
2-3 tbsp grated jaggery
1 medium onion,finely chopped
3-4 green chillies,slit
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp chopped coriander
salt to taste

for tadka:
1 tsp ghee/Oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 red chillies,broken

Method:

• Pressure cook raw banana for 2-3 whistles until it is completely cooked.Cool it,remove the peel and mash it completely.
• Slightly toast sesame seeds in a pan and cool it.Grind it to a fine powder.
• Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of water fr 15 mins and remove the pulp.Add grated jaggery and salt to it and mix properly.
• Add slit green chillies to it and mash it with hand completely.If you are allergic to green chillies like me,slight crush the green chillies in a mortar and pestle,this process also works fine.
• Now add some water,mashed raw banana and sesame seed powder to it and mix and adjust the salt,spice and sweetness according to your taste by adding the respective ingredients.
• Heat ghee in a small tadka pan,crackle mustard seeds and fry red chillies for a minute and add this tadka to the mixture and add chopped coriander and mix well and serve.

Note:

1. This is generally not heated on stove,it is served cold with hot steaming rice.
2. Use oil in seasoning for a Vegan version.

Dahi vada / Mosaru vade / Perugu vadalu

Dahi/perugu vada is one of the famous South Indian snack which is served along with lunch in any function,marriage and festival.I love the combination of this cool dahi vada which complements well with a full fledged spicy meal and it can be even served as a evening snack.When I generally make vada's for breakfast I prepare one extra batch to make dahi vada's which are generally savored later in the day.This will be a wonderful food in summer's as we do not like eating hot and spicy food in that hot weather.Even though it is deep fried,as it is soaked in dahi it will be a perfect soothing snack on those hot days.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup grated carrot
2-3 tbsp chopped coriander
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder

To make Vada's:

1 Cup whole Urad dal(white)
1 tbsp finely chopped coconut pieces
1/2 tsp finely chopped green chillies
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp slightly crushed pepper(optional)
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
2 tbsp finely chopped curry leaves
salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

For making Curd/dahi mixture:

3-4 cups curd/yogurt(preferably one day old)
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp green chilli paste
salt to taste

For Tadka:

1 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
3 red chillies,broken
5-6 curry leaves
a pinch of hing


Method:

• Soak urad dal overnight or atleast for 1 hr.Use the round white variety urad dal for this.
  
• Strain the soaked urad dal and grind it to a fluffy mixture in the grinder(even a mixie also does the same job,but in grinder you get more fluffy batter which is apt for making vada's).Add water only if needed,do not add much water while grinding this.Try to beat this mixture with hands for two mins continuously which helps in yielding fluffier vada's.
• Now add chopped coconut pieces,green chillies,ginger,coriander leaves,curry leaves,jeera,crushed pepper,salt to it and mix well.
• Whisk yogurt with salt properly.Add grate ginger and green chilli paste to it and mix well.
• Heat a tsp of oil in a small tadka pan and crackle mustard seeds and add urad dal,broken red chillies,curry leaves and fry for a minute and add hing and remove it from the stove.Add the tadka to the beaten curd mixture and reserve some for the garnish.
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai on medium heat and mean while grease your left palm(or wet your hands) and place little vada mixture and flatten it and make a hole in it and slowly transfer to the right hand and slip it to the hot oil carefully.(You can do this with right hand if you are expertized in it or you can even try patting it on a greased banana leaf or greased milk cover)
• Repeat the same process for the remaining mixture.Drop 4-5 at a time,do not drop in more or else they will stick to each other.
• Let them fry on medium flame until crisp and deep golden brown in color on both sides and drop them into the curd mixture and let it soak in it for 30-45 mins .Check for detailed pics for Vade here.
• Now remove the soaked vada's and arrange them on a plate and pour over the left over curd mixture and sprinkle red chilli powder and roasted jeera powder all over the vada's.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and grated carrot.
• Chill them and serve.Note:
  

• You can make vada's just out of urad dal mixture (mixed with salt) by avoiding adding all the ingredients under the "To make vada's" section.I generally make vada's for breakfast and I use the same vada's for the perugu vada also.There is no difference except that it will be slightly spicy when u bite into green chillies.So try to adjust the green chillies according to your taste.
• It can be refrigerated upto next day but will slightly turn soar.

Check my earlier version for Medu Vada/Uddine Vade here.

Mint Rasam/Pudina Rasam

This rasam is quite different from the regular tomato or dal rasam as it is loaded with full of flavors infused by mint in it and is a perfect combination with rice and some papad.You can even savor this as a soup if you dilute it with water bit more and is perfect for rainy season.

Ingredients:

1 small bunch of mint(approx 1 cup)
2 tbsp grated dry coconut
4-5 dry red chillies
3 tbsp tamarind pulp
1 tsp grated Jaggery(optional)
a pinch of turmeric
4-5 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of hing
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp ghee

Method:

• Grind grated dry coconut,red chillies and salt to a fine powder.Add mint leaves and grind again with little water to form a coarse paste.
• Heat oil in a kadai and add the ground paste and fry until the raw smell goes away.
• Add tamarind pulp,jaggery,turmeric and 1 and 1/2 cups of water and let it boil.Now check the taste of it and adjust accordingly adding salt,water if required.
• Heat ghee in a small tadka pan and crackle mustard seeds,add curry leaves and hing and fry and add this tadka to the boiling rasam and remove it from heat.

Serve it hot with rice,some fry and papad.

Uma and Vidya have showered me generously with so many awards.Thanks a lot uma and vidya for sharing those awards with me.

Most of the bloggers have already received them,so I am passing this to all the bloggers who have not get them so far.So Buddies,Please carry away these awards with you if you did not get before.

Banana Bread

Recipe courtesy: Joy of baking.

I have tried this a couple of times and everytime I am happy with its results.I have blindly followed the recipe without any modifications other than the addition of some chocolate chips to it.This is one perfect tea time bread and is very easy to prepare.We just loved the aroma of banana in it and the combination of banana and walnuts is incredible.I like to cut it into thick slices and the bread a little bit and have it with a cup of tea either as morning breakfast or evening snack.Try it and I am sure even you will say the same thing.I even tried the banana bread - eggless version which is equally amazing and I will try posting it some time later.

Ingredients:

1+3/4 cup(245 gms) All Purpose flour
3/4 cup(150 gms) White sugar
2 large eggs,at room temperature
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (113 gms) Unsalted butter
3 large ripen banana's
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup walnuts,chopped

Method:

• Grease a Loaf pan( 9 x 5 x 3) with butter and dust it with flour evenly or place a butter paper in the pan.
• Preheat the Oven to 180 deg for 10 mins.
• Slightly toast the walnuts in oven or on stove top and chop them into small pieces.
• Melt butter and let it cool to the room temperature.
• Beat the eggs with a hand whisker slightly until it is done.
• Sift together flour,baking powder and baking soda twice to let them mix uniformly.
• Grind sugar to a fine powder.
• Mash the Banana with hands until all the lumps are removed.Add in sugar powder and mix properly.
• Now add beaten eggs,vanilla essence and cooled butter to the banana mixture and mix until everything is mixed properly.
• Add all the dry ingredients(Flour mixture,salt and cinnamon powder) to the wet ingredients(banana mixture) and gently fold using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula and mix until the batter is thick and chunky.(Do not over do the process of mixing as that yields in a rubbery bread).
• Slightly coat the walnuts and choco chios with 1/2 tsp of flour and add to the batter and fold in roughly.
  
• Gently scrape the batter into the greased loaf pan and place it in the oven and bake at 180 deg for 45-50 mins or bake until the crust is brown and tooth pick should come out clean when inserted.
• Cool it on the wire rack and slice it and serve.

Note:

1. As I did not have enough walnuts at that time I added 1/2 cup of walnuts and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips instead of 1 cup walnuts.
2. You can even add other dry fruits like raisins,pecans,etc.
3. You can even add 2-3 tsp of cocoa powder to the batter to get the chocolate flavor of banana bread.

Serving Suggestions:

1. Toast the banana bread slice and serve it warm with tea.
2. Apply peanut butter to the toasted slice of banana bread and serve.
3. Serve it slightly warm(by keeping it in microwave for few seconds) with vanilla icecream.
4. Serve it at the room temperature.
   

Raw Banana Pepper fry & Drumstick kootu.....a platter from Rak's Kitchen

Sometimes we will run out of ideas about what to cook for lunch/dinner and I am sure that this will be a common problem for most of us....;)In that sense,blogging is helping me a lot in getting lot of ideas,infact it is inspiring me more to try out new dishes from different regions and cuisines.I generally make sambar out of drumstick or I will use in aviyal at the most and I rarely cook raw banana at home.When I saw Rak's post I was sure that I will be going to cook that combo for my hubby's lunch box.On the same day I went to buy those veggies from the vegetable vendor just next to our building(that is the comfort of staying in our mother country,everything is easily accessible..) and prepared it for hubby's lunch box next day.Thank you Raks for sharing this,we just loved it.I modified the recipes lil bit to adjust according to our taste.

Drumstick kootu:

Ingredients:

2 Drumsticks
1/4 cup Moong dal
1 tsp sambar powder
1/4 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
1 Tomato,chopped
2 generous pinches of hing
salt to taste

To grind:
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/4 tsp Rice flour

for Tadka:
1 tsp ghee/Oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp jeera
a pinch of hing
a sprig of curry leaves
1 tbsp chopped shallots



Method:

1. Cut drumstick into 2 inch long pieces.
   
2. Boil moong dal with tomato,turmeric,sambhar powder in pressure cooker until done.
3. Meanwhile cook drumstick and salt in a vessel until tender.No add cooked moong dal to it and mix properly.
   
4. Grind coconut and rice flour with little water and add to the cooked drumstick,moong dal mixture and let it boil,remove from fire after one boil.
5. Heat ghee in a tadka pan and crackle mustard seeds and jeera.Add urad dal,curry leaves and hing and fry for a minute.Add chopped shallots and fry until the onion is soft and pink.
6. Add the tadka to the dal mixture and stir.

Serve it hot with rice and papad.

Note:

• For a Vegan version use oil instead of ghee for seasoning.

Raw Banana pepper fry:

Ingredients:

2-3 Raw banana
1 tsp sambar powder
1/4 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
1 tbsp curds
1 tsp freshly ground pepper powder
salt to taste

for Tadka:
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 sprig of curry leaves

Method:

• Peel the banana's and dice them into 1/2" cubes and drop them in salted water mixed with curds.This helps in retain its color.For a Vegan version avoid adding curds to water.
  
• Wash the banana cubes properly and boil them in enough water mixed with sambar powder,salt and turmeric until they are nice and tender.Drain them and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a kadai,crackle mustard seeds and add urad dal and curry leaves and fry for a minute and then add cooked banana pieces and stir fry on high flame for 1-2 mins until it is dry.Add pepper powder to it and mix well.
  
• Add grated coconut to it and mix well.

Serve it hot with hot steaming rice with ghee and papad.

Lobia fritters and Lobia sundal

And here comes the last two dishes which prepared on diwali and directly to the recipes today.

Lobia Fritters/Alasandula vada:

Ingredients:

1 cup Lobia/Alasandulu/Black eyed peas
3-4 tbsp finely chopped Onion(1 onion)
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
2-3 tbsp grated carrot(optional)
1 " ginger,chopped
3-4 green chillies
1 tbsp chopped curryleaves
salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method:

• Soak lobia overnight or atleast for 3hrs.Drain them and spread over a kitchen towel/napkin to remove excess water and pat dry.
• Grind lobia with ginger,salt and green chillies to a coarse paste,preferably do this process in whipper mode.
• Add finely chopped onions,coriander,curry leaves and grated carrot and mix well.
• Heat oil in a deep kadai over low flame until it is quite hot.
• Grease a thick plastic cover or banana leaf or your palm with oil and take a small portion of batter and make a round ball out of it and slight pat it until it forms vada by pressing it at the edges and carefully lower them into hot oil and fry them over medium flame until it is golden brown and crisp outer side.
• Drain them on paper towels and serve it hot with tomato ketchup.

Lobia Sundal/Alasandula Guggillu:

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked Lobia/Alasandulu/Black eyed peas
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of hing/asafoetida(optional)
5-6 curry leaves
2-3 tbsp fresh grated coconut
3-4 dry red chillies,broken
1 tsp lemon juice(optional)
1 tsp ghee/oil
salt to taste

Method:

• Soak lobia overnight or atleast for 3hrs.Pressure cook them with some salt until 3-4 whistles,it should hold its shape and should not become mushy.Drain cooked lobia and set aside.
• Heat ghee in a kadai and crackle mustard seeds.Add chana dal and urad dal and fry until they turn red in color.
• Add broken red chillies and fry for a minute.Now add curry leaves and hing and fry for another minute.
• Add cooked and drained lobia and stir fry for few minutes,do this process carefully in order to avoid lobia to become mushy.
• Add little salt as we added already some salt while cooking them.Add grated coconut and mix properly.
• Switch off the flame and after a minute add lemon juice and stir properly and serve.
  

Serve it hot/warm/cold.

Note:

• For a Vegan version use oil instead of ghee for tempering.