Art of Cooking Indian Food

Kaju Katli - The most delicious sweet with cashews

2008-07-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

Whenever I go to a sweet shop, the first sweet that I will search for is Kaju katli - Cashew sweet. This is one of the richest sweet. You know why I call it rich...yes both its flavour and its cost is high when compared to other sweets. Yet, the one sweet that makes me glutton is this Kaju katli. Though it is high is calories, you can consume it occasionally, just to treat yourself for your great achievements. Till yesterday, I used to think that this is one big difficult sweet to prepare. But now, I completely changed my opinion after making a trial at my new kitchen. It took only about 15mts to prepare this sweet and of course it was scrumptious. When I was browsing my old cook I came across this easy recipe for making Kaju katli - the sweet with cashew! Here I am sharing the kaju katli recipe with you.

Ingredients:

1 cup of cashew

1 1/2 cup of sugar

2 tsp of milk

3/4 cup of water

A pinch of cardamom powder

1 tbsp of Ghee/melted Butter

Method:

In a heavy pan, add the water and sugar and mix it well to make the syrup. Add milk to it when the syrup comes to a boil.

Meanwhile, grind the cashews in a mixer so that it becomes evenly powdered. Do this step carefully as while grinding it may form lumps.

Add this powdered cashew to the sugar syrup little by little and stir continuously so that we can avoid lumps getting formed.

Cook in Sim flame till the mixture becomes semi-solid and comes without sticking to the vessel.

At this time add ghee and cardamom powder and mix well and immediately switch off the stove.

Pour this mixture on a plate covered with aluminium foil and allow it to cool.

Cut it into diamond shape or your favourite shape and store it in an air tight container.

I couldn't wait to taste them, so I cut them while they were hot, which made me end up with a kind of irregular shaped katlis...you wait till it cools down to get better shape.

Note: Kaju Katli is a very famous sweet in the North India and you can make this for any of your parties and impress your guest with something rich and be proud!

Arisi Upma - A great tiffen with raw rice

2008-07-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

This upma with raw rice is my favourite. It is called Arisi upma and it is a very well-known tiffen item in south India. The preparation is very simple and this dish is delicious with coconut chutney. However my favourite side dish for this food is tomato chutney.

Ingredients:

Raw Rice (Pacha Arisi) - 1 cup
Onion 1 cup (optional)

whole black pepper - 1tsp

Channa dal 2tsp

Red Chillies 3 to 4
Mustard Seeds ½ tsp
Cumin Seeds 1 tsp
Curry Leaves

Hing (Asafoetida) 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste
1 tbsp Oil

Method:

It is advised to soak the rice for 4 hrs and dry them in hot sun before grinding. However, I do it without this step. Either way it tastes great. But, if you want to follow the correct way of doing this dish, I would suggest you to dry the rice before using it for this preparation.

Coarsely grind the rice and the whole pepper it in a mixer/blender, little by little so that all the rice are evenly broken.

You can either do this with pressure cooker or you can also use a heavy based vessel or kadai.

Heat the oil in the vessel and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies, channa dal, hing and curry leaves.

Then, add the onions and saute them well until the onions start changing colour.

Add the coarsely ground rice and saute for a minute.

Pour 3 cups of water and add salt and stir well.

When the water starts boiling you can either off the stove and transfer the contents the pressure cooker or you can continue to cook in the same vessel in Sim flame.

If you choose to use the vessel to cook, make sure that you watch at regular intervals and stir occasionally so that the food doesn't get burnt.

If you choose to pressure cook, then wait for 4 whistles. Switch off the stove and allow it to cool.

Serve hot with your favourite side dish.

Lamb Leg (Attukal) Soup - An easy and Tasty way to cook Lamb

2008-07-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

Whenever I come across Soup recipe list, the fist thing I search for is sweetcorn soup in vegetarian and Lamb leg (attukal) soup in non vegetarian category. The vegetarian soup is my favourite and the non vegetarian is my husband's. Though I do not know how to cook non vegetarian, my mother-in-law fills the place. She is an awesome cook as far as non-veg is concerned. When we were in India this time, me and my husband gave our favourite menu list for her to cook and wow! every time she cooks, the food gets its own flavour! The very first menu request from my husband was attukal soup and within minutes she made it.

With Lamb, you can cook a different variety of food - Lamb biriyani, Lamb soup etc. For this Soup preparation, she uses a specially prepared powder in addition with pepper powder. First I'll share the recipe and then the way to prepare this soup powder.

Ingredients:
Lamb Leg - 4
1/4 cup onions
1 tsp pepper
2-3 tsp soup powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 flakes of garlic
2 green chillies

Method:
Clean the Lamb leg. In a pressure cooker, mix the lamb leg with this all the above ingredients and pressure cook it.

Add enough water (till the lamb is fully covered with watter).

Pressure cook it till you get 2 hiss. Now cook it in Sim flame for 20 mts.

Take out the lamb along with water and serve hot.

Soup powder:
50g - whole black pepper
100g - Dhaniya (cilantro seeds)
1 1/2 tsp of sombhu (Fennel Seeds)

Grind the above ingredients in a mixer and use it as soup powder. You can use it for any soup, it gives a rich flavour and taste to the soup.

This soup is very good for people suffering from cold as it gives immediate relief.

I am back with Lemon Rice!

2008-07-15T07:28:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt that time is running so fast? I did, recently. My 1 month vacation is over in a blink! Wow! Going on vacation is real fun and that too when you go to your native place to meet your family and friends. Nothing can equal this joy. I had a great time in India. Ate all my favourite dishes and spent time with my family. Jeez! I miss them. Though the travel time is nearly 22hrs, I managed to sleep most of the time so that I can avoid Jet lag. Visited Tirupathi and attended few functions and now I am sitting in my new apt cherishing all my memories. Yes I am Back! We shifted to a new apartment and now I have to get accustomed to this new environment and set things.

You may ask, what did you cook so soon with nothing much in your kitchen? Of course, the all time saver, Lemon Rice. This is the most easiest recipe I have ever come across, of course next to curd rice. I have tasted lemon rice in many of my friends and relatives place, but only few recipes lure me to eat them more.I am sharing my favourite lemon rice recipe which makes me eat more lemon rice even when I am on a diet.

Preparation time is 30 mts. This time is just to cook the rice, all the other preparation takes less than 5mts. For a beginner, I would suggest you to do this dish more carefully, as even a minute mistake will spoil the taste of this dish.

Ingredients: (For 2 people)

1 Lemon for taking lemon juice or you can also use the Lemon squash that you get in shop. But fresh lemon juice adds a lot of flavour and aroma to this recipe.

1 cup Rice (You can go for either basmati rice or your normal rice). If you do this recipe more often I would suggest you to go with the normal rice as more intake of basmati rice is not that good for health.

2 cup of water if normal rice OR 1 1/2 cup of water for basmati rice

1 tsp of Urad dal
1 tsp of channa dal
2 Green chillies
A few pieces of cut ginger
Finely cut cilantro for garnishing
1tsp of turmeric powder
2tsp of oil
1tsp of mustard seeds
A pinch of Hing powder
Salt to taste

Optional:
1/4 cup of fried ground nuts
1 tsp of cashew

Method:
In Rice cooker, cook the rice with the required amount of water.

In a pan, add some oil, mustard seeds. When the seeds pops, add hing, urad dal, channa dal and saute them.

Add Green chillies, turmeric powder and ginger and saute them for few seconds.

After the rice is cooked, cool it for few minutes. Add the mixture from the pan and mix well.

Add the lemon juice, salt, ground and cashew nuts and mix well.

Garnish it with cilantro and serve with papad or any of your favourite side dish.

There are many other ways of preparing this lemon rice, but this is my favourite way.

Eat Healthy Protein Rich Contest UPDATE

2008-07-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to find my mail box flood with protein rich entries. So many entries with easy yet healthy recipes. Thanks to all of you who have contributed and planning to contribute. I apologize for not acknowledging most of the entries I received. As I was busy with my vacation, I never had time to reply each and every entry.Hope you all understand. I confirm through this post that I received all your entries and I appreciate all your effort.

Nearing the end date for this contest, I received mails from few of you asking to extend the contest end date so that you can participate and send in more healthy recipes. I do appreciate your enthusiasm and have decided to extend the end date for this contest till Jul 30 , 2008 midnight

Hope you all are having great fun and would be happy if you all could utilize this extension and send in more entries for the event making it a great success.

Jiggiri Dost - A Sweet with Apple and Jaggery

2008-06-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

I felt very bad when I missed the Open Sesame 1. It is such a lovely event giving work to our brain and our creativity. Thanks DK and siri for hosting such a lovely event. Find the event details for Open Sesame 2.

I chose box no:1 and within few hours came the riddle.

moniker in my name for a city

A phrase with me will make you cherished

I am so good for you in my utter simplicity

In Medical dictionary the fact so furnished

I am so famous in the world of bytes

Known for many aspects of usage

I am fat and rotound and make crunchy bites

My fame known from many religious traditions - right from the old age

Am, I forbidden? Or mystical ?

or the eternal giver of Youth

I consists of five internal carpels

Am good for good health of your mouth

I am as basic a fruit as you can think of

Or as hard if you dont try enough

If You eat me on a day to day basis

Then you dont have worry about anything - be it cold or dry cough

When I first read the riddle I immediately thought it must be Apple. However, I confirmed with the help of Wikipedia for I didn't know that 'A moniker in my name for a city' is 'appellation' and the fact that Apple had 5 carpels. When I was sure, I sent my answer and was right at the first go.Yey me!

After that the main thought was, what can I prepare differently with apple? I did not want to post apple milkshake or apple pie as they are the most common and predictable recipes made with apple. I thought of making a sweet with coconut so that I can send it to AFAM-coconut hosted by suganya too. Here comes 'Jiggiri Dost' Meaning best friend.

Why I kept this name? When I was discussing this with my dad, he suggested this name because I used Jaggery and Roasted it. So instead of Jaggery I used Jiggiri and instead of Roast I used Dost to name the dish . very creative huh? all credits goes to my dad for naming this recipe.

Ingredients:

To make the dough:

1 cup of All purpose flour

1/2 cup of rice flour

Salt for taste

1 tsp of chilli powder

For filling:

gratted Apple 1 cup

1/2 cup coconut

few roasted cashewnuts

1 cup of Jaggery

Oil for deep fry

Method:

In a bowl, add all the ingredients to prepare the dough. Make it like a chappati dough. Let it rest for 15 mts.

In a pan, add jaggery and water and make it a paste. Filter the liquid so that dirt from the jaggery is removed.

Add the grated apple to the jaggery liquid and fry till the moisture is removed.

Add the coconut and roasted cashew and mix well. Let it cool.

Make small balls from the dough and roll it like you do for chapatti.

Place the filling inside and roll it as you will do for vegetable spring rolls.

Deep fry in oil. Serve hot.

Note: This recipe will be delicious when hot.

Variation: You can also use this filling and make kozhukatai and name it apple kozhukattai.

Also you can use it as stuffing in poli and make apple poli.

I am CLICKing YELLOW!

2008-06-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

When I saw the CLICK event for this month, I decided I must participate, come what may. I loved the concept and it sure is for a good cause. I had a lot of ideas but nothing was very convincing to me. I wanted to CLICK yellow and at the same time convey some message to the world and especially to dear Bri. Don't miss this great opportunity! Participate in this month's CLICK. The details of the event can be found here.

Yesterday, I had a great time with my friends in the beach and we stopped at marry brown, in Adayar. We ordered for a lot of tasty dishes and what caught my eye was the smiley. It was really cute. So I decided to try that. Today morning, I did the smiley with All purpose flour. Mine was more like a Bajji ,to cut the Bajji round, I used the sharp edge of a small round vessel. I made the holes for eyes and mouth very carefully. Though it did not come perfect as in the restaurant, it sure was very cute and tasty.,Here comes my CLICK ...

Through this CLICK I want to convey the message 'KEEP SMILING ALWAYS'. My best friend used to tell me this during my college days. Smiling Always- Yes, it is the best way to live our life. All of us, in one form or the other, have something bothering us; Something which makes us sad and depressed. Though it is difficult, we sure can over come any worries by smiling.

We all know, the one thing which makes every one happy is their Baby smiling. This pure smile makes us forget all the worries and fills our life with joy.

Bri, we all know how difficult it is to face something which we are scared of. Hats of to your confidence and strength. Keep smiling always and God is with us! Good Luck!

And the WINNER is . . .

2008-06-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to announce the winner of EatHealthy Fiber Rich event. As I mentioned earlier I used Randomizer to choose the winner. I have attached the snapshot of the page showing the randomly picked winner.

Do have a look at the Roundup containing 43 fiber rich and healthy recipes.

WINNER IS as you can see Number 23 which is 'Lentils Soup' from Sukanya Ramkumar of Hot and sweet bowl .

CONGRATS Dear Sukanya!.

Do take a look at this month's contest details. Participate and make it a great success! Here are the details of eat Healthy - protein Rich CONTEST.

Eat Healthy -Fiber Rich Round Up and the Surprise

2008-06-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

When I first decided to host a event, I was a bit skeptical about the response. I was new to the food blog-o-sphere and was not sure how the response would be. But, you have all proved that how supportive you are for a newbie. Yes! I am very happy that I got a total of 43 responses. It is a big number as far as I am concerned. Thanks for all the participation and support that you have extended to me and my blog.

Now for the surprise!. I was very impressed with the response and wanted to show my gratitude and happiness. When I was discussing this with my husband, he volunteered to sponsor 1 prize. hurrah! I have a sponsor now. We have 1 winner and he/she will get a $20 Giftcard.

So now how to choose the winner? All the entrie were great and healthy so I decided to use the http://randomizer.org/ . A very easy and unbiased way of selecting the winner. I wrote down all the entries that came to me in the same order of their arrival. Each entry, even if it is from the same person is considered as a separate entry. So if you have sent 3 entries to this event, then you have 3 chances of winning.

Here are the Fiber Rich entries,

1.Gobi Aloo Tamatar Masala from Asha of Aromahope

2.Garlic Snap peas from Hetal of Ishaskitchen

3.Wheaten Milk and Honey Bread from Sarah of What Smells So Good?

4.Quinoa salad from Ivy of Kopiaste, to Greek Hospitality

5.Dal Makani with Jeera rice from Ranjeetha Prabhu of rbcuisines

6.Pav Baji from Sonal of Kitchen Kapers

7.Hot and Sour Soup from Nidhi of Charche Chauke ke

8.Roasted Corn Chaatfrom Meera of Enjoy Indian food

9.Slow-cooker split pea dal from Erica of Stuff I cook for my husband

10.Dry Fruit Cake (No Sugar Added) from Srimathi of Few Minute Wonders

11.vennpongal from Priya of Live2cook

12.Oats chappathi from Divya of Divyascookbook

13.aloo puffed rice chat from Shri of eminent life

14.Quinoa Upma from Priya of 365daysveg

15.curry from Kalva of Curry In Kadai

16.Celery Chutney from Uma of Essence of Andhra

17.Granola Bars from Bharti of veggiefoodist

18.Tandoori Tikkis with Pita bread from Bharti of veggiefoodist

19.Palak matar paneer from Kavita of k4kichadi

20.Hara bhara Kabab from Subha of chutkibharpyar

21.Healthy smoothies from notyet100 (Priyanka) of asankhana

22.Masala Badane Palya from Sia of Monsoon Spices

23.Lentils Soup from Sukanya Ramkumar of Hot and sweet bowl

24.Mashed Beans Roti from Madhuram of eggless cooking

25.theeyati pulusu from Dee of Amluskitchen

26.Crunchy cauliflower roast from Sumi of Sumiskitchen

27.Broccoli soup from Cham of Spice club

28.Mixed bean and carrot salad from EC of Simpleindianfood

29.Banana Heart in Coconut Cream from Ning of Heart and Hearth

30.Sweet corn adai from Nirmala ofAmma’s Special

31.Cauliflower playa from Mythreyee of Paajaka recipes

32.Palak Kadainthathu(Spinach Gravy) from Ramya bala of ramyacooks

33.kiwi smoothie from Sheetal of Sweety-mykitchen

34.carrot pancake from Sheetal of Sweety-mykitchen

35.whoal meal pancake from Sheetal of Sweety-mykitchen

36.Nutritious Cracked Wheat Upma with Raita from Skribles of Food with a Pinch of Love

37.Peanut Kabbab from Archana - Archy's Recipe Book

38.oatmeal patties from Zlamushka 0f zlamushka’s kitchen

39.Hara Bhara Kabab from Sireesha of Mom’s recipe

40.Asinan Buah from Elsye of elsyescook

41.Vishu Kanji Jayshree of Kalais kitchen

42.Zesty Sprouts Salad from Racheal of tangerines kitchen

43.Crunchy Rough Scottish Oatcakes from Michelle of Greedy gourmet

I will post the winner and the winning recipe asap. Please do let me know if I have missed any entry.

Find the updated details for this month Eat healthy event - Eat healthy - Protein Rich CONTEST!. Do participate and make it a great success!

Eat Healthy - Protein Rich CONTEST

2008-06-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

I never thought the response for Eat Healthy- Fiber rich would be so immense. I am really very happy. Wow! My first event is really a great success with all your support and encouragement. Thank you all. There is a surprise and I will let you know about that when I post the round up. Now for the next month event. For the month of July it is all about protein. The event is from Jun 15th till Jul 30th.

Rules are very simple and will be familiar to most of you out there. Anyway, here comes the rules part.
1. Make any dish – be it Appetizer, Main Course or Dessert , Vegetarian/Non -Vegetarian, any cuisine and using any ingredient, anything under the sun that is Protein rich and post the recipe in your blog /site and link it back to this announcement. I would greatly appreciate if you use the logo.

The only point to be noted is, this recipe must be easy and simple to make. There are only a few who have patience and time to try out recipes which takes hours and hours of preparation :).

2. Multiple entries are more than welcome . More entries, more choices for us to eat healthy.

3. Take a snap of your recipe and send it across with a size of 250 X 250 pixels.

4. Send me your “Name”, “Recipe”, “Recipe URL”, “Photo” to : letusallcook@gmail.com i.e. letusallcook(AT)gmail(DOT)com with the subject as Eat healthy - PROTEIN Rich.

5. Last date for the entries are 11:59PM (Pacific time), July 30th 2008.

6. Not having a blog is no excuse to let you get away with your passion for cooking. Non-Bloggers don't worry, there are always ways to achieve your passion :) please do send me the same details as above to the mail given and I will post it in the round-up with your details.

7.Older entries on blogs can be accepted only if they are republished during this event period with a link-back to this announcement.

8. Do write about the amount of protein present in your recipe.

I have decided to make this event more like a contest so that there will be 2 winners.

Winner 1: The top 5 entries with the most protein content will be asked to vote by you and the winner will get a $20 Gift certificate.

Winner 2: You can send as many entries as you can for this event. The person/blog with more number of protein rich entries will be featured in this blog for 1 month. This is my way of appreciating your contribution. Since I do not have any outside sponsors it is difficult for me to choose more winners and award them gift certificate. So I thought of doing something like this. Hope you will appreciate this.

Hope you all participate and make this event a great success and encourage me to contribute more. Looking forward for your healthy recipes :)

Take a look at our Previous Eat Healthy event details and roundups.

2 Awards and a Meme

2008-06-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

My blog received 'Good chat blog award' from JZ and 'You make my day award' from Devi priya of Food for Bliss. Thanks girls. I pass this to all my friends in blog world. Everyone deserve this!

JZ of Tasty treats has tagged me. Its good to know more about our fellow bloggers. It helps us to find people of same taste and really helps developing a great friendship.
I was also tagged by Jamie of Flavour Pantry to which I will be posting another meme tomorrow.
So here it goes.
1.Last movie u saw in a theatre?
Hmm love movies. Last one was 'The Chronicles of Narnia- Prince Caspian' however will be watching Dasavatharam (long awaited Kamalhasan’s tamil movie) in a couple of days…
2. What book are u reading?currently
none. I am enjoying my vacation.
3. Favourite board game?
Pictionary, Monopoly
4. Favourite magazine?
No specific ones but love fashion magazines.
5. Favourite smells?
The smell when garlic is roasted in ghee, smell from new books.

6. Favourite sounds?

The sound from anklets and bangles.
7. Worst feeling in the world?
I have a lot. When my friends and relations act very selfish and betray my trust. When I found that money is more important for few of my relations than our relationship itself.
8. What is the first thing you think of when u wake?
What to cook! trust me… its my first thought during weekdays…
9. Favourite fast food place?
Pizza hut and anyplace where I can eat delicious Bhel puri.
10. Future child’s name?
Lets see… not yet decided
11. Finish this statement—'If I had a lot of money I’d....’
Save some for me (So obvious).Share it with my family. Try to help the needy. I have always wanted to start an old age home OR/AND a home for special children.
12. Do u drive fast?
Yes. Especially 2 wheeler.
13. Do u sleep with a stuffed animal?
No. But always wanted to.
14. Storms–cool or scary?
Scary.
15. What was your first car?
I don’t own a car! My husband owns one though!
16. Favorite drink?
Vanilla Milk shakes
17. Finish this statement - If I had the time I would…I
would sleep for some more time.
18. Do you eat the stems on broccoli?
Yes, love them especially which is given in Panda express.
19. If you could dye your hair any other colour, what would be your choice?
Brown shade is my fav.
20. Name all the different cities/towns u have lived in?
Chennai, Wheeling
21. Favourite sports to watch?
I am not a sportsperson.
22. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?
JZ is a sweet friend of mine. She is very special because she is the first to give me an award in this blog world. She has a lovely blog which surely does inspires others.
23. Whats under your bed?
of course dirt!
24. Would u like to be born as yourself again??
I really do not want another life. But if there is no choice then a big YES!
25. Morning person or night owl?
Now I am a night owl! During college days I was more of a morning person.
26. Over easy or sunny side up?
Over easy!
27. Favourite place to relax?
Home sweet home
28. Favourite pie?
None
29. Favourite ice cream flavour?
All. But Peanut butter scotch is my fav.
30. Of all the people u have tagged, who is the most likely to respond first?
Don’t know….

Thanks for being so interested in me and reading this. I am tagging the following bloggers to spread the meme.

Arunthathi

Cynthia

Priyanka (Notyet100)

Zlamushka

Girls we are waiting to know more about you.

Vazhaikai (Plantain) Poriyal

2008-06-09T01:52:00.000-07:00

This blog is so close to me that I feel very lonely if I do not post and interact with fellow bloggers. This blog is kind of my family now. I have reached India safely and I am enjoying my stay. I was at my in-laws for the past few days but now I am at my parents place as my hubby's office is near from my mom's place.Yes! he has to work from here for 2 weeks only after that the real vacation starts. Anyways I have started to give my menu details to my mom and my mother-in-law. Both are great cook and I like many of their recipes. Today I am posting one of my mom's recipe which is my favourite. Vazhaikai Poriyal is one of my first choice when it comes to side dish for More kozhambu, an authentic South Indian gravy done for marriages and for festivals. I am sending this to JFI-Jihva for Tamarind .Here is the link to the JFI main page which was started by Indira of Mahanadi.

Ingredients:

1 Raw Plantain (Vazhaikai)- peeled and sliced
1 cup tamarind juice
Salt to taste
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
A pinch of hing powder
2 Red chilli whole
2 tsp grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 or 3 curry leaves
1 tsp of oil

Method:

In a pan, add the sliced plantain (vazhaikai) and add tamarind juice with turmeric powder and required salt.

Cook until the Plantain is tender. Switch off and keep it aside.

In an other pan, add 1 tsp of oil and add mustard seeds. When it pops add hing powder and urad dal. Saute for few seconds. Now add the curry leaves and red chilli whole.

Now add the cooked Plantain (Vazhaikai) and mix well.

Add grated coconut and mix well.

Serve hot.

As I told earlier, I love it with More kozhambu, but you can have it with any of your favourite rice item.

A simple sambhar and a break!

2008-06-04T07:59:00.001-07:00

As I already posted about my trip to India, you all must be knowing by now how excited I am. I am leaving today and will be back after a month. I will try to post as frequently as possible but you know how it works on vacation. But surely I will keep myself updated and try to post often. Before leaving I wanted to post a very simple recipe which I can send to JFI-Jihva for Tamarind. Yes, it is the South Indian way of making Sambhar, a gravy using tamarind which can be eaten with plain rice.

Ingredients:
Tamarind (Lemon size)
1 cup of Toor Dal (yellow split peas)
1/2 cup of onions finely chopped
1/2 cup of Tomatoes finely chopped
1 tsp of Cumin seeds (jeera)
1 tsp of mustard
a pinch of Hing powder
1 tsp of turmeric powder
2 tsp of sambhar powder
salt to taste
1 tsp of oil
1 strand of curry leaves
1/2 cup of vegetable (Carrots or pumpkin or ladies finger or any veg of your choice)

Method:

Soak the tamarind in water for 1 hr. After 1 hr, take the tamarind juice. To know how to take the tamarind juice check out this how to make tamarind juice video.

In a pressure cooker, cook the toor dal with turmeric powder and enough water for 3 hisses. Let it cool.

Now, in a pan, add a tsp of oil, mustard seeds. When the seeds pops, add hing, cumin seeds and curry leaves.

Optional: Add the vegetable of your choice, add some water and let it cook for 5 min. If you add carrots it becomes carrot sambhar, if ladies finger then it becomes ladies finger... if no vegies then it becomes plain sambhar. Easy huh?

Add onions and saute them till they become light brown. Add tomatoes and saute them for few seconds.

Add the tamarind extract and add salt. Let it come to a boil. Now add some water add let it boil.

Now add the sambhar powder/chilli powder, when it comes to a boil switch off the stove and serve hot.

Here is the link to the JFI main page which was started by Indira of Mahanadi

By the way, Do not forget to participate in Eat Healthy-Fiber Rich Event. which ends on 14th Jun,Midnight CST.

CLICK yellow and help to fight cancer!

2008-06-02T09:28:00.001-07:00

This is an appeal on behalf of a group of food bloggers who are friends of Briana Brownlow @ Figs With Bri.

Bri was diagnosed with breast cancer two and half years ago. A mastectomy, chemotherapy and two years of relatively good health later, the cancer is back. It has metastasized to other parts of her body. At the age of 15, Bri lost her 41-year old mother to the disease. Now, she’s waging her own war against breast cancer. More about it here.

She is going through intensive chemo and other treatments and needs to focus single-mindedly on healing and finding what treatment works best for her. Her health insurance, unfortunately, does not cover holistic alternatives which she would like to try. Bri and her husband Marc have enough on their plates right now in addition to worrying about her medical bills.

The team organising the JUNE edition of CLICK at Jugalbandi has organised a fundraiser to help Bri and her family meet her out-of-pocket medical costs for ONE YEAR.

CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri

Yellow is the colour of hope. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.

The entries can be viewed HERE. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2008. The fundraiser will extend until July 15, 2008.

The target amount is 12,000 U.S. dollars. We appeal to our fellow bloggers and readers to help us achievee this. Bri deserves a chance to explore all options, even if her insurance company thinks otherwise.

There’s a raffle with exciting prizes on offer. After viewing the list, you may make your donation HERE or at the Chip-In button on any participating site.

Your donation can be made securely through credit card or Pay Pal and goes directly to Bri’s account.

This month’s photo contest also has some prizes. Details HERE.

You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser, by participating in CLICK: the photo event, and by publicising this campaign.

Your every click counts!

How to Peel a Kiwi Fruit? - The simple and easiest way.

2008-06-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

When I was browsing through Foodbuzz, I came across this excellent and useful video. It was by Atomic shrimp. The easiest way to peel a kiwi fruit - This was the title and no wonder it caught my attention as I usually struggle peeling kiwi. I assumed that it is going to be one more video using a special peeler or is an advertisement for a kitchen product. Though I was having a lot of hesitation, the title urged me to watch the video. I have embedded the video that atomic kitchen has uploaded. Watch the video and you will definitely find it very useful and understand why I was so very impressed. It is really for those who struggle peeling anything for that matter. Do let me and Atomic shrimp know how useful was the video.

The Easiest Way To Peel A Kiwifruit - The best home videos are here

Some useful information about Kiwifruit

Kiwifruit, originally known as the Chinese Gooseberry are oval, about the size of a large hen's egg (5–8 cm / 2–3 in long and 4.5–5.5 cm / 1¾–2 in diameter). Kiwifruit is a rich source of vitamin C, 1.5 times the DRI scale in the US. Its potassium content by weight is slightly less than that of a banana. It also contains vitamins A and E. The skin is a good source of flavonoid antioxidants. The kiwifruit seed oil contains on average 62% alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid.[8] Usually a medium size kiwifruit contains about 46 kilocalories, 0.3-gram fats, 1 gm proteins, 11 gm carbohydrates, 75 mg vitamins and 2.6 grams dietary fiber.

Kiwifruit is often reported to have mild laxative effects, possibly because of the high level of dietary fibre. Know more about Kiwifruit

Peanut Chutney and 2 awards!

2008-06-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a busy and tiring day. We had to pack for our trip to India. Hurray! At last I get to go to India to see my friends and family. I'll be on a 1 month vacation from jun 4. Lovely isn't it? I am way too excited and looking forward for the same. I had to do all the packing and you all know how it goes with packing. The 2 things that gave me lot of energy was the 2 awards given to me from Uma and Gaurav. Thanks guys! it did boost my energy a lot!

I was given the 'Rocking girl blog' award by uma. I pass this to - swati , Arunthathi , Siri, Srivalli

and 'Good chat blog' award by gaurav and I pass this to all my blog friends who have been so inspiring to comment and chat!

Now for the Peanut chutney.

Ingredients:
1 cup roasted peanuts
2 green chillies
1/4 cup of cilantro
1tsp of urad dal
1tsp of channa dal
4 flakes of garlic
1/4 cup of onions
2tsp of oil
salt to taste
For tadka,
1 tsp oil
1tsp mustard seeds
2 Red chilli whole

Curry leaves

How to prepare Peanut chutney:
In a pan, add some oil and add all the ingredients excepting peanuts and saute them. Let them cool.

In a blender add this mixture along with roasted peanuts and salt.

For tadka, add some oil. add mustard and when it pops add curry leaves and red chilli whole. Serve hot with dosas, idly.

Rava Kesari / Sooji Halwa - An authentic South Indian Dessert/sweet

2008-05-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

I was watching TV yesterday around 4PM and was feeling very hungry. Thought of making some sweet as one of my friends asked me to post more sweet recipes. Thought of doing carrot halwa, but did not have carrots! The next easy sweet as far as I know is Rava Kesari. This is a recipe mostly done in festivals and also in marriages.

For breakfast in most of the south Indian marriages will be Rava kesari, bajji or bonda with coconut chutney and also pongal. Yummy! the thought itself makes me hungry and drool. Indian Food rocks! Rava Kesari also called sooji halwa, is very easy to prepare. All you need is rava (sooji)!

Ingredients

1 cup Sooji (rava)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup of nuts (Cashew, almonds)and raisins
1/4 cup of ghee or butter
A pinch of salt

Method:

In a pan, add butter. Whe it is melted add the nuts and raisins and saute them.

Add the sooji(Rava) and saute for few min.

When you get the smell of Sooji geting roasted in ghee (wow! it really is a pleasant smell), you add sugar and mix well.

Now add water and cook it in medium flame. stir occasionally. Add a pinch of salt to enhance the flavour.

After 2 min, check if the sooji is cooked and serve hot!

One more award: Today I got Nice matters award for my blog from Divya of Divya's cookbook. Thanks Divya. It does make me feel good and more committed to my blog when I get these awards. Thanks again...you made my day! I pass it to

JZ of Tasty Treats
Rachel of Tangerine's Kitchen
Shilpa of Aayi's Recipe
Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Treats

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Chickpeas Sundal - A healthy snack

2008-05-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

You can make sundal in many different forms. You can use any type of bean to make sundal. However, the first thing that strikes our mind when we hear sundal is chickpea sundal. It is called Konda kadalai sundal in Tamil. This is a famous recipe which is done during the Vinyagar chaturthi festival. Chickpea sundal along with Kozhukattai is the combo for this festival. It is believed that Lord Ganesha loves these recipes. Who will not love? leave alone the belief, every kid loves sundal and kozhukati for its taste. Not only taste this chickpea sundal is high in protein which is undoubtedly healthy.

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpea soaked in water for 4 to 5 hrs
1/2 cup onion finely chopped
2 green chillies
1tsp urad dal
1tsp channa dal
salt to taste
1tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of hing
1/4 cup shredded coconut (you can use both freshly shredded or the frozen one)
1 strand of curry leaves

Method:

Pressure cook the soaked chickpea with required salt for 3 hisses.

In a pan, add oil, mustard seeds and when the seeds pops, add hing.

Add the urad and channa dal and saute. Now add the onions and fry then till they are light brown.

Add the green chillies, curry leaves and little salt. Now add the cooked chickpea and mix them well.

Now add the shredded coconut and mix well. Serve hot!

This is a very easy snack and no wonder Lord Ganesha loves this recipe.

Note: You can make this chickpea sundal without onions and coconuts too.

Onion Roti recipe

2008-05-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of what to cook for lunch yesterday. Roti again? I was wondering how I can prepare roti differently. Then remembered 'Roti mela'. Wow! how many varieties of roti till now...amazing..thanks Srivalli for conducting such a useful and fun event. So here is my onion roti. A simple variation from the normal roti preparation. I found it very tasty and this goes to Srivalli's Roti Mela.

Ingredients:
1 cup wheat flour
water to prepare dough
salt to taste
1 onion finely chopped
1/4 cup of cilantro finely chopped
2 green chillies finely chopped
A pinch of hing
2 flakes of garlic finely chopped
1-2tsp oil

Method:

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients. Add water little by little and knead the dough.

This is same as that of a normal roti preparation.

Now, as usual take a small round ball of dough, roll it to whatever shape you want and cook it on both sides with the help of Tawa/griddle.

Serve hot with side dish of your kind.