Cooking Station

Simple Dal - recipe for bachelors :D

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:13:00 +0000

A simple dal recipe from my husband for all bachelors and forced bachelors :D

you need ;

Toordal or Moongdal
Pressure cook dal with a pinch of turmeric and water till it is soft.

Seasoning : Oil, jeera and mustrad seeds, curry leaves,green chillies slit lengthwise, onions chopped length wise, tomatoes chopped roughly, coriander leaves chopped roughly.

Heat oil and pop mustard and add jeera. Whey jeera turns little brown add curry leaves, green chillies and chopped onions. Sautee them. Let onions turn transcluscent then add tomatoes. When tomatoes become mushy add salt, cooked dal with water and salt. Bring them to boil. Let it boil for next 2-3 mins. Switch off the stove and add coriander leaves and cover the pan with a plate. Let it settle down before you devor it with hot rice.

Result : He says it is awesome!!

Dhal filled paranthas

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:49:00 +0000

A very tasty and filling parathas for your lunch box.

Ingredients :
For Prathas :
Whole Wheat flour : 2 cups
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Water sufficient to make a tight dough. Mix the above ingredients to make stiff dough.

For filling :
Chanadal/deskinned, split chickpeas- 1/2 cup (1 cup=100ml of water)
Garlic: 1 piece( not the whole round of garlic just 1 pod)
Redchillies : 1 or 2
Cumin/Jeera : 1/2 tsp
salt
oil : 1/2 tsp

Soak chanadal for 3 hrs and pressure cook to make it soft. Drain water and keep dhal aside till it cools down.
Take cooked dhal, garlic, chillies, cumin and salt in a blender and blend to make coarse paste. Do not use water.
Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan and add the ground coarse paste of dhal and fry till water in the mixture dries away. Switch off the stove and make small balls of this mixture.

Take a pingpong sized whole wheat flour dough and roll into a circle of 5 cm diameter. Place the filling in the center and cover/lock the edges to the flour to make a ball again with stuffing in the center. Press down the ball and dip in little dry wheat flour and roll into 6 -8 cm diameter circle. Fry paratha on a hot girdle using oil.
Serve hot with any accompaniment of your choice.

Potato Vepudi/Stir fried Potato

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:33:00 +0000

Probably this is one simple dish that everyone loves to eat. It goes well with chapathi and rice.

Ingredients: (sufficient for 2 people)

Potato : 3 numbers
Oil : 2-3 tbsp
Turmeric : 1 pinch
Mustard : 1/4 tsp

To make powder:
Cumin: 1tsp
Redchilli Powder: 1tsp
Garlic: 1 (optional, I have used in the recipe)
Dry grated coconut: 1 tbsp(optional, I have used in the recipe)
salt

1. Make coarse powder of the ingredients mentioned under that category.Keep it aside.
2. Peel and chop potatoes into small cubes. Soak them in water to prevent discoloration of potatoes. Before adding it to hot oil drain water and then add potatoes.
3. Heat oil in a wide pan. Add mustard and wait till it stops popping. Add turmeric.
4. Add chopped potatoes and fry it in oil till they turn soft and crisp.
5. Add powdered chilli cumin powder and mix. Stir and fry for next 2 mins till the powder is well mixed and fried.
6. Remove and serve hot with chapathi or rice.

Tondekayi Palya/Ivygourd

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:48:00 +0000

Ivygourd or Tondekayi tastes good in sambar, stirfried veggie, stuffed and also in yogurt.

You need the following to make this vegetable :

Tondekayi/Ivygourd : 20 (washed and cut into desired shape)
Fresh wet coconut : 2 tbsp (grated)
Green Chillies OR Red Chillies : 3 (adjust acc to your taste)
Cumin : 5-10 seeds
salt
Oil -1 tsp
mustard : few seeds
urad dal : few seeds (split deskinned urad dal)
curry leaves- 2-3
coriander leaves : 1 tbsp (chopped)

Microwave ivygourd with little salt and water till they soft. Pressure cook or cooking it over stove top can also be done if you don't wish to microwave.
Coarse grind coconut, chilli (roast dry red chilli if you are using it), cumin and salt.
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and let it pop. Add urad dal and saute till it turns red.
Add coarse paste of coconut mixture and sautee for 30 sec, add cooked and drained Ivygourd pieces.
Stir to mix the contents. When the vegetable mixture is warm, remove the pan from stove and garnish it with coriander.
Serve hot as a side dish with rice and dal or with sambar. Goes well with curd rice :)

Chapathi Roll for quick lunch

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:55:00 +0000

You need the following :

Chapathi : few freshly made

for filling :
Carrot : 1 grated
Onion : 1 chopped into fine pieces
Tomato : 1, pulp removed and chopped into fine pieces.
pepper powder : 1/4 tsp
green chillies : 1/2 chopped into circles
Olive oil : 1 tsp
salt

Heat olive oil and add chopped green chillies and onion and saute till they change color. Add grated carrots and saute till they are done. Now, add chopped tomato and saute till the skin of tomato wilts. Sprinkle little pepper powder and salt and remove from stove. You can garnish with coriander.
Make chapathis, spread the above veggie over it and roll it. You can pack it for your lunch or have it for your breakfast.
This veggie also serves as a good spread over your bread.

Stuffed Jalepenos

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Sun, 03 May 2009 04:36:00 +0000

You need the following to make :

Jalepeno Peppers/Long Mirchis : 8
Shredded wet coconut : 1/2 cup
Jeera/Cumin : 1tsp
Roasted Chickpeas : 1 tsp
Green Chillies : 4
Coriander leaves : 1tbsp (chopped)
Salt

Dry grind coconut, jeera, chickpeas with chillies, coriander leaves and salt.
Slit peppers lengthwise and remove seeds from it.
stuff the ground mixture into slit chillies .

Tampering :

Oil : 1/2 tbsp
curry leaves : few
hing : 1 pinch

Heat oil and add hing and curryleaves. Arrange stuffed chillies in the pan and toast them. Reverse them when they start browning at the bottom. When the other side also browns switch off the stove and serve hot with rice.

Spicy Baby Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:06:00 +0000

After I saw this at Bharathy's place I got tempted and thought of making it. Well, when I start making some dish I always end up adding something extra to suit our pallet. It happened without fail this time also and it was perfect! after I finished the potatoes with coarse peanut powder and I deleted away garlic from the original recipe.

You need the following to make spicy baby potatoes :
Baby potatoes : 250g
Oil : 1tbsp
Mustard : 1/8 tsp
Hing/asafoetida : a pinch
Turmeric : a pinch
Onion : 1 chopped into fine pieces

Sambar powder/saarina pudi : 1 tsp
Curry leaves from 1 line
Water : 5 tbsp
Salt
Coarse Peanut Powder : 2 tbsp
Coriander : 2 tbsp, chopped

1.Wash and pressure cook baby potatoes with little salt. De skin them and refrigerate for 2 hrs.This makes them little firm.
2.Heat oil, pop mustard seeds, add hing, turmeric and curry leaves.
3.Onions go in next. Sautee till onions change color. Add in sambar powder, baby potatoes and give a good stirr. You can sprinkle little water at this stage as potatoes stick to the pan. Add little salt. Cover and cook till flavors get infused into potatoes.
4.Finally add peanut powder and mix. Open and cook for next 2-4 mins.
5.Switch off the stove and remove potatoes to a serving dish.Garnish with coriander leaves.
6. Serve hot with rice and rasam or they are good on their own :D

Bread Halwa from Srikar's Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:20:00 +0000

I saw this on Sri's blog and decided to make it. It was indeed a delicious treat for us. Thanks Sri for sharing your recipe.

Ingredients :

Bread : 10 slices (chopped into 1" pieces)
Sugar : 1cup
Milk: 200ml
Saffron strands : few (soaked in 25 ml warm milk)
Ghee : 3 tbsp
Chopped Nuts : 4 tbsp

1. Fried bread pieces in 2 tbsp of ghee and remove them from pan. Fry nuts in the same pan with remaining 1 tbsp of ghee and keep nuts aside.
2.Take fried bread pieces, milk and bring to boil. Let bread pieces cook in milk.
3.When the mixture thickens, add sugar, saffron strands with milk and bring to boil again.
4.Let the mixture thicken, switch off the stove and garnish with fried nuts and serve.

Yummy bread halwa is ready to be devoured. :D

Storing Coriander Leaves

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:35:00 +0000

Few of you had left comment on my earlier post about storing coriander leaves. Here is how I store them:

Wipe coriander leaves with a dry kitchen towel. Roll them in news paper and put it in airtight box. Like this it stays for a week in your refrigerator.

Southekayi Koddel

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:25:00 +0000

I got this recipe from Sushma's blog. I prepare this atleast once in fortnight. It is now in our 'fav' list. You have to just visit Sushma for the yummy recipe. She has used Winter melon and I substituted it for Cucumber!.

You need the following to make Koddel :

1 big Old Cucumber (Peel and Chop, deseed the cucumber)
1/2 coconut grated (about1.5 cups fresh/frozen)
3-4 red chillies
1 tsp jeerige/cumin
2.5 tsp dhania/coriander seeds
1/4th tsp methi seeds/fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp thick tamarind extract
jaggery (1 medium grape size)
salt according to taste

Seasoning:
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
6 curry leaves
a pinch of asafoetida/hing
coriander leaves (for garneshing)

Method :
1.Season the vegetable in a vessel you intend to make sambar. Add chopped cucumber pieces, 1 cup of water and cook the cucumber.
2.Meanwhile roast cumin, coriander, fenugreek, redchillies separately on a hot pan. Let them cool
3.Grind the cumin, coriander,fenugreek, redchillies with fresh grated coconut to a smooth paste.
4.Add this to cooked cucumber, add little more water if required, salt, tamarind juice, and jaggery.
5.Bring to boil. Taste the Koddel before you switch off the stove.

Southekayi Koddel is my entry for AFAM-Cucumber hosted by Neha of Tasty Recipes. AFAM was the brain child of Maheshwari of Beyond the usual blog.

Fresh Chickpeas and Carrot Salad and storage tips

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:05:00 +0000

I am a crazy fan of fresh chickpeas. We get chickpeas separated from its pod in India. 2 months back when I returned to Singapore after spending good time with family and friends I bought half a kilo of these fresh chickpeas. Thanks to Singapore immigration, they allow us to bring food products to Singapore :-).
I prepare salad with these chickpeas when ever I miss them!

Fresh Chickpeas and Carrot Salad
Fresh Chickpeas : 1 small cup
Grated carrot : 2 tbsp
Green chilli paste : 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice : 1/2 tsp
Seasoning/Oggarane : little

Toss everything and serve. Enjoy !!

Storing Fresh Chickpeas :
Clean chickpeas in water, drain the water. Spread it on a clean thick towel. Let the moisture in peas escape to towel. Transfer the peas to another fresh dry towel and pat them well to remove any adhering moisture. Pack them in the freezer safe ziplock bags/containers and store in freezer. I stored fresh chickpeas and hyacinth beans. Thaw and use!

Frozen Fresh Hyacinth Beans/Avarekalu

Storing Lemon Juice
Are you getting lemons at a cheaper price ? Store the lemon juice and use it whenever you want.

Wash lemons, pat dry them and squeeze the juice using a juicer. Note that the juicer must be wiped dry before you start squeezing lemons. Store the juice in a clean, dry glass bottle or a tupperware container. Store in the coolest part (not freezer) of your refrigerator.

Steamed Tapioca Kueh

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:14:00 +0000

'Kueh' was Greek to me 5 years back when I came to Singapore. Now I make them in my kitchen! To me kueh/kway is an Asian Cake. People here would love to Kueh Vs Cake. The basic ingredient in Kueh is either rice flour/tapioca with coconut milk flavored with pandan leaves and dressed with shredded coconut. You can make it look colorful and attractive :) I started off with a recipe provided by my colleague however one of the Singapore blogs here gives you a more accurate recipe. But women here say there is no correct/right recipe for Kueh. Everything is agak-agak(approximately) la .....

Here is how I made Steamed Tapioca Kueh as per my colleagues recipe :

Tapioca : 2.5 cups (cleaned and grated)
Coconut Milk : 1 cup
Sugar : 3 tablespoons
Food Color : any color
Shredded wetcoconut : 4 tablesp
Pandan leaves : 3-4

Method:
Mixed grated tapioca, coconut milk, sugar. Place pandan leaves over it and closed the pan with a lid. Steamed for 15 minutes. Enjoyed hot Kueh's.

If you have shredded coconut with you, steam coconut, pinch of salt and pandan leaves for 3 mins. Dredge hot Kueh with the warm shredded coconut and serve.

Yummy Steamed Kueh's just for you from Singapore .......

Green Bean and Tomato Soup ~ from Spice Cafe

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:38:00 +0000

I was impressed with the combination of green beans and tomato in a soup. I had decided to make this soup someday. I thought it was right opportunity to try out this soup when SWC-Soups is anounced. Thanks Neha for hosting the event.

You can check the recipe at THE SPICE CAFE. It is simple and filling soup. Thanks coffee for sharing your recipe with us.

Green Bean and Tomato Soup
2 medium to large tomatoes (chopped)
1 cup green moong beans (washed and soaked/rehydrated for 4 hours)
I varied this ratio as per my taste
1 onion (roughly chopped)
1/2 whole red chili (chili padi)
2 small cloves of garlic
1 cup chopped corriander( I omited it as I did not have them)
1-2 tsp sugar (optional)
salt to taste
Method :
1.Pressure cook all ingredients with little water except coriander leaves, salt and sugar
2.Remove excess water and let the mixture cool down
3.Add corainder leaves to cooked mixture and blend /run hand blender
4.Add remaining water or extra water to desired consistency (my soup was thick), add salt, sugar and warm the soup.
5. Serve hot with croutons, but we liked it without croutons :D

This bowl of soup goes to Neha who is hosting SWC-Soups and Sanghi for her event FIL-Tomato

Now Sanghi asks us to write " Choose a lovable person you would like to dedicate your most loved recipe and write a few pleasing lines on why you chose them".
I prepared this soup for myself, because I loved the combination of moong and tomato and it turned out exactly the way I had thought of! Thanks to Coffee for her recipe :)

Kitchen Essentials ~ Pickle Powder, Chilli Powder and Curry Leaves storage

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:15:00 +0000

Pickle Powder

You need the following :
Red chillies : 15 (spicy variety)
Fenugreek Seeds : 1tsp
Mustard Seeds : 1tsp
Fry everything separately on a hot tava. Powder them together and keep it in a airtight container. You can use it to make chutney , or any kind of instant pickle you would like to make.

Red Chilli Powder
Red Chillies : 20 (spicy variety) (Guntur variety)
Red Chillies : 10 (less spicier version which imparts color most of the times) (Byadgi/sambal chilli/kashmiri)

Fry both of them with half a teaspoon of oil on a hot tava till they are crisp. It may take about 3 mins on a hot tava. Let them cool. Powder and store it. The resulting powder is very very spicy...use it with caution. Over the years I have started disliking store bought powder so I tried this and it worked well.

Storing Curry Leaves

Separate curry leaves from stem and store in a airtight container. You can store curry leaves for more than a month like this :) in refrigerator.

Sorekayi/Doodhi Halwa

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:02:00 +0000

Sorekayi/Doodhi/Bottle gourd is a vegetable which I like in halwa ;)than in curries. Last week when I had one big gourd in my vegetable tray I chose to make halwa. It is a easy peasy recipe which I think any one can prepare.

You need :
Sorekayi/Bottle Gourd : 1 (tender)
Sugar, Milk, Ghee and dry fruits
I am not giving exact measurements here..just add everything in approximate quantities..

Method :
1.Peel and grate bottle gourd, squeeze to remove water. Water can be used to cook veggies or drink it in empty stomach to get health benefits
2.Coat your pan with a tbsp of ghee. Heat the pan and add grated gourd. Fry till raw smell dissappears from the guard.
3.Add 2 cups of thick milk and cook gourd in milk. You can cover the pan with a plate.
4.When gourd is completely cooked, add sugar and another spoon of ghee and bring to boil again. Let the milk, gourd, sugar mixture thicken. Remove from heat
5.Garnish with chopped nuts/dry fruits of your choice. Enjoy hot or cold dessert.

Sending this easy dessert to Recipes for the rest of us-Dessert event started by Ramki of One page cook booksand hosted by Varsha of Willo the Wisp

Green Chilli Paste ~Keep it Ready Kitchen Essentials

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 02:22:00 +0000

I use green chilli paste for many of my dishes. Few clear advantages 1.chillies are not wasted 2.paste can be stored for a longer time than whole chillies.

Here is how you make and store chilli paste :
Green Chillies - 200g (as many as you have)
Salt- 2 -3 tbsp ( salt is used to preserve chilli paste, so add approximate quantity)
Grind both of them without using water. Spoon it to a clean, dry container with proper lid.
Store in refrigerator. You can store it for more than a month.
NOTE: Add salt to your dish with caution as chilli paste already has salt in it

Storing Whole Green Chillies :

If you wish to store whole green chillies, here is how u do it :
1. Wash the green chillies and pat dry to remove any water from chillies
2. Remove the stalk and wipe the chillies with a dry towel
3. Transfer to a dry air tight container
4. You can store it like this for a month without any spoilage
5. Whenever you take the chillies, ensure to wipe the inner lid and inner parts of the container if you find any moisture. Best is once a week, pat dry chillies, wipe the container and put back the chillies.

The chillies in the picture here are 2 weeks old :)

Store well and Avoid Wastage..Save Food

SWC-Salads Round up

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:41:00 +0000

My sincere thanks to you all for sending in your quick, healthy and tasty salads which can be made under 15 minutes. Let me showcase you the entries which I recieved from beautiful bloggers around. They are in no particular order..so please scroll down till the last entry to help yourself with delicious salad.

A salad is not complete with dressing. A spicy dressing or a tangy dressing or a sweet dressing brings out the flavor of vegetables and combines with it to make salad more interesting! Check out Asha's Spicy Thai Salad

for a combination of garden fresh vegetables.

Salsa anyone? How about having 10o simple fresh salsa in one page? err..I think it is fantastic idea :) check out at Ramki's place...

Talk about fresh lentils in salad and I am all ready to eat them as lunch..Preeti of Khaugiri finds this simple and tasty hesarubele(moongdal) kosambari of Karanataka very intersting. And you are right preeti..it can be made under15 mins ......

Indrani was busy packing her bags to enjoy her time in India with her lovedones..but she did not want to miss this healthy event. She has sent us healthy mix-veg and fruit salad. A bowl of it and you are simply done with your meal (:P if you are on diet)

Cham has sent us thai glass noodle salad, and Iam sure you guys are going to drool over that cellophane noodles...........

Meera sends us a unique cucumber salad which she learned from her MIL. This salad is from south Gujarat and has a special ingredient which makes it special..check it out at Enjoy Indian Food

She has also sent us a refreshing Maharastrian style Lettuce chi Koshimbir. ...

Smitha of Kannada Cuisine borrows idea of Mexican Fajita Platter and creates her own combination of black bean and Avocado salad. Check her salad which is protein rich and tasty too..

Nupur brings a twist to Kulcha Chana a famous combination in Punjab. She says Chana used here is tasty on its own as a salad. Stuff it into a whole meal/multigrain burger bun for a wholesome meal as Nupur did it! Drop by Cinnamon Hut to know her tasty tangy Chana.

Poonam of Poonam's Kitchen has sent us a combination of vegetables in olive oil dressing. She says it was an instant hit in the party :)

Our dear Priyanka of Asan Khana has lined up several salads for the event and do check her blog at leisure for the healthy, colorful and refreshing salads in different dressings...

Republic Day Salad ;) - Mix Veg Salad in Red Wine Dressing

Mix Vegetable salad in low fat yogurt

Sprouts salad with Carrot

Mushroom and baby corn salad with lemon leaves

Priya bring spicy thai salad and Persimmon salad in maple syrup for this salad fair and they are pretty easy to make and tasty to eat too..

Ashwini has sent us refreshing and colorful mix veg salad and it surely has added color to our salad fair

Neha of Tasty Recipes has come up with burnt corn salad and carrot salad. I love burnt corn in my salad. Thanks for sending them across Neha.

Have you tasted a curried fruit salad....taste this 'new type' of salad at Sapna's blog...

Fruit Salad with jelly is definitely a treat to eat for me, so enjoy this virtual treat with Sowmya of Creative Saga..

You can check out my posts here on Salads :

1. Fruit Salad with Orange Cinnamon dressing 2. Raddish Salad in Yogurt

Raddish Salad :

Sushma of Savi Ruchi has sent us a healthy wealthy broccoli raita. Check her place for the yummy recipe.

After salads let us enjoy virtual treat of healthy low fat soups at Neha's Tasty Recipes Do send her your entries by 9th March 09. Happy Blogging.

Raddish Salad in Yogurt/Moolangi Mosaru

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This is a very simple salad. We love to eat this with chapathi or it is yumm to eat on its own. This goes to my event SALADS-under 15 mins. Today is the last day to send in your entries to the event. Do remember to send in your healthy delicious entries ;)

You need the following :

White Raddish : 2 (peeled and grated)
Green Chilli paste/green chillies: 1/2 tsp or 1 small (chopped round)
Coriander leaves : 1 tsp (chopped)
Yogurt : 1 cup (thick plain unflavored)
Salt
Oggarane/seasoning : 1/2 tsp

Mix grated raddish, coriander, chillies, salt and yogurt. Add seasoning and serve!

Keep it Ready - Preserved Raw Mango ~ Kitchen Essentials

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:54:00 +0000

We love raw mango rice, mango pickle, mango thokku, mango...I can keep telling the list. I preserve raw mango(freeze them) when they are abundantly available during the season. The below picture is preserved mango of 2008 April season.

How do you preserve them ?

Mangoes : 2 big (Pickling variety/Totapuri)
Salt : 4tbsp

Wash, wipe mangoes. Peel the skin with dry hands. Grate the mangoes.
In a freezer safe container. layer mangoes. Add a tbsp of salt. Layer again..the salt layer should be the last layer.
Let this stand for a day outside (with the lid closed) before you put them in your freezer.
You can preserve raw/unripe mangoes like this for a year or more.
Just take care that you don't add or add less salt while cooking with this preserved raw mango.

Tea Masala/ Fragrant Spice Mix for Milk Tea

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:36:00 +0000

I am a coffee person but I just cannot resist Masala Chai. At times when I feel like sipping in some tea I use this fragrant spice mix for making tea. The aroma is just irresistable. I have made many versions of spice mix for tea but I got hooked to this spice mix. The difference was rendered by Fennel! This cup of desi chai goes to Ivy of Kopiaste who is hosting 'Think Spice-Fennel and Mastic Gum'

I usually make small quantities of this mix and I am listing down the ingredients, so please use your judgement while making it.

The ingredients of the spice mix and their medicinal properties as referenced via internet search:
Please note that these uses may or may not be approved by FDA. Most of these uses were found listed in traditional medicine web pages. The dosage at which these medicinal properties are seen are also not listed here.

Cardamom : 1.sweetens breath 2. aids digestion 3. reduces mucus inducing properties of milk when added to it
Clove : antibacterial, used in the treatment of cold. 2. freshens breath 3. Effective stimulant of lungs (used in ayurveda)
Cinnamon : 1. helps in weight loss 2.aids digestion
Dry Ginger Powder/Ginger : known for its heating, cleansing, toning and stimulative properties in Ayurvedic medicine. Very effective in reducing phlegm and also relieves respiratory ailments. A good tonic for abdominal discomfort.
Fennel : used as a mouth freshner in traditional medicines, aids digestion, eases associated symptoms of menopause, increases low milk supply in breast feeding mothers.

I mix them in the following manner :
Cinnamon : 1 tsp
Cloves : 8 - 10
Cardamom pods :5
Dry ginger powder : 2 tbsp
Fennel : 3/4 tbsp
I powder all of them and store it in a airtight container. It is advised to preserve spices in airtight container to retain their aroma.

To make milk Tea/Chai
Milk : 1/2 cup
Water : 1/2 cup
Tea powder : 3 tsp (I used 'Booke Bond Red label' brand )
Tea masala/spice mix : 0.5 or half tsp
Sugar
Bring water to boil add sugar and tea leaves and boil for 2 mins. Add tea masala and let it simmer for next 30 seconds. Pour half glass of milk and continue to boil till you get good color :). Filter it and pull the tea between two cups to get frothing tea. Do the last step with caution. If you are not 'used to' this please do not attempt it.

we enjoyed our masala chai with home made mini khara buns. Khara means spicy. These buns were also flavored with fennel which will be blogged at TasteofMysore.

The fennel flavored tea is participating Think Spice event and the fennel flower is going to Dibs of ChitraAmma's Kitchen who is celebrating her blog birthday with Kitchen Masterpiece Event

Sip in fragrant hot masala chai and enjoi!

Chutney for Buttermilk ~ Keep it Ready-Kitchen Essentials

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:23:00 +0000

If Oggarane is one of the essentials of South Indian kitchen, buttermilk is something we all love to drink after a major meal. Buttermilk is thinned down plain 'no-flavor' yogurt. A little chutney is added to this thinned down yogurt and allowed to stand for 10 mins and served chilled :)

Make 2-3 tbsp of this chutney and it makes atleast 12 glasses of buttermilk which serves my purpose for a week. You can store this chutney in your refrigerator in a airtight container for a week.

You need the following for making chutney :
Ginger : 4" big piece
Green Chillies : 2 (1 big and 1 tiny ;)
Garlic : 1 small pod
Cumin : 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves : 2 tbsp (chopped)
salt : 1 tsp
Grind everything to coarse paste and store in a container.
Method :
Add 1 tsp of this chutney and little salt to 1 tbsp of plain 'no-flavor' thick yogurt. Add required amount of water and stir well.
Add oggarane and serve chilled or without chilling it. You can garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Yellow Pumpkin Palya

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:38:00 +0000

Few days back when I saw Rak's Pumpkin curry here and Madhu's Pumpkin Curry here I got tempted to make this right away because there was pumpkin in the refrigeator. I did little changes to the recipe to suit our taste and delicious palya was ready for chapathis. Here is how I did it :

You need the following :
Yellow Pumpkin : 2 big wedges (gave me approximately 35 1*1" thick pieces)
Red Bell Pepper : 1 (optional, I used them coz I had them on hand)
Yellow Bell Pepper : 1 (optional, I used them coz I had them on hand)

For grinding :
Uraddal/Uddina bele - 1/2 tbsp (roasted on a tawa/pan)
Chanadal/Kadalebele - 1tbsp (roasted on a tawa/pan)
Wet Coconut - 2tbsp
Dry Red Chillies - 4 (it was spicy!, you can reduce it)
Coriander seeds - 1tsp
Salt

Grind all the above ingredients to a smooth paste with little water and keep it aside

For Tempering :
Oil : 1-2 tsp
Curry leaves, hing and little turmeric

Heat oil in a pan, add asafoetida, turmeric and curry leaves.
Throw in chopped peppers and sautee for 4 mins or till they are little soft. Add chopped pumpkin pieces and stir to mix well. Sprinkle water, cover and cook till pumpkin pieces are half cooked.
Pour in the ground paste, mix well and cook till pumpkin pieces are well cooked and still retain their shape.
Check salt etc and adjust the flavors according to taste.
Serve hot with chapathi.

Keep it Ready! Kitchen Essentials-Oggarane/Tempering/Seasoning

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:11:00 +0000

Almost every south indian household uses oggarane/tempering/seasoning in many dishes. From saaru/sambar to kosambari/salad oggarane adds aroma and enhances taste. By keeping this oggarane 'ready to use' not only saves time but it also saves the oil that goes in everytime.

What do you need to do?
Just make this mix ahead of use and store it in a airtight container. It can be stored for 2 weeks! Here is how I do it..

Oil - 1tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1tbsp
Cumin-1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek Seeds-1/2 tsp
Red Chillies- (4 broken)
Curry leaves-20 leaves (chopped)
Hing/Asafoetids - 1tsp (powdered)

Heat Oil. Pop Mustard seeds. Add cumin, and fenugreek seeds. Once enugreek seeds turn red add red chillies, hing and curry leaves and mix well. Switch off the stove and let it cool down. Once the whole mixture comes to room temparature, store it in a airtight container. Use it whenever you want :)

Fruit Salad; Gong Xi Fa Cai

noreply@blogger.com (LG) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:52:00 +0000

It is raining tangarines here...A gift to us during Chinese New Year are tangarines. Peel an orange and just keep the whole orange inside your mouth and enjoy the sweetness of Tangarines......in the past 5 yrs I have not eaten a sour tangarine. I used them to make yummilicious fruit salad.

You need the following to make Fruit Salad :
(Recommened to refrigerate all the fruits for 24 hrs and then use them)
Apple : 1
Tangarines : 4
Pear : 1
Blueberries : 1tbsp (dried)
Almonds : 5
Figs : 4 (dried)
Golden Raisins : 2tbsp
Green Raisins: 2tbsp

Salad Dressing
Orange Juice : 5 tbsp (I squeezed juice from tangarine oranges)
Lemon Juice : 1tsp
Honey : 1tbsp
Cinnamon Powder : 1/2 tsp
Mix everything and keep it ready to mix.

Method :

Cut apple, pear, into 2" cubes. Peel oranges and separate them. Pound almonds just to break them don't break them completely.
Cut figs into half. Add in blueberries, raisins. Pour the dressing on top of the salad and toss.
Serve chilled or immediately.

Since this salad can be made in 15 mins I will be including this in SWC-Salads. Enjoii this refreshing salad.

SWC-Salads under 15 mins

noreply@blogger.com (Cooking Station) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:14:00 +0000

Fresh Vegetables and Fruits are treasure cove of many building blocks of life. Adding more of these to your regular diet is a healthy way of living life. I have decided to focus on 'weight reduction and healthy living' this year, so I thought of taking this theme for SWC. I am sure that all my SWC bloggers will actively participate and keep themselves and me healthy :D A eating plan is devised which I am going to try this year. I said 'try' la...let me see how far I am going to succeed. A baby step towards this is SWC-Salads.

Plan a good salad for lunch box or even to eat at home. It should involve less work and be tasty also ..errr.. a bit greedy eh? Never mind la..let me see if I can succeed or not ...

Few things to keep in mind while participating :

1.Use fresh veggies and fruits to make salad

2.Avoid heavy dressings like whipped cream etc even if you are buying low calorie products

3.You can use sprouts in your salads

4.The salad should be made under 15 mins. 15 mins involve peeling, chopping, tossing.

5.You can blog tips for making good salad if you don't intend to make a salad

6. A non SWC member is also welcome to participate

7. Your entries (blog name, URL of the post) should reach me on or before 9th Feb 09. Email to lakshmi at tasteofmysore dot com

No logo la..., just link back to this announcement also can....if you are not interested to link back... also can la...

All I want is your quick and tasty salad recipe ma... Come back to see the round up after 9 Feb 09.