Everyone including myself makes big cooking mistakes from time to time. Sometimes I feel they always happen on important occasions. For this month’s contest, I would like to hear your cooking blunders. Maybe you were preparing for a big dinner party and things went very wrong. What did you do? Were you able to save the day? What did you learn from that day?

You needn’t send any photos for the contest.  All you have to do is post your story to the disucussion forum on the Cooking Blunders topic that I have created.

The winners will be selected randomly from all the forum post entries.

Below is my checklist:

• You will not have email me anything this time. You can simply leave a posting on the Cooking Blunders topic.
• If you are creating a new account for the forum, please enter your email address so that I can contact you after the contest is over. Don’t worry, your email address will not be public (only I will be able to see it).
• The deadline is May 31st.
• The winner will be featured on the homepage and a link to their website (if available).

1st Prize: $100 gift certificate from Amazon.com
2nd Prize: $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com

**Anyone can join this contest**

Sorry for the delay in posting the winners for this month. There was a lot of color and variety in the recipes submitted and they all looked great. I would to thank everyone who participated. You all did a great job. Here are the top five recipes and two winners from those:

Congratulations to both of you!!

• Melanie Booth
• Shanaz Sijad
• Teja Bandreddy
• Bharu Srinivas
• Nitu Chugani
• Rehana Khambaty
• shafa ms
• Sherri Williams
• Lindsey Cook
• Anjali Shukla
• Shraddha Thakor
• Amy
• Bennat Benny
• Sumedha
• Padmavathi G.
• Preeti Lal
• Shruti B Parekh
• Kalaiselvi Jagadeesan
• Zari Afroz
• santoshangar
• Namrata Bharwani

• Mamtha
• Hidemi Walsh
• Ranjani Narayan
• Deepti Dongare
• Jeni Kim-Pandey
• Shweta Agrawal
• Keshu Patel
• Flora Kim
• Nibedita Das
• Ketan Patel
• Allyson Bossie
• Lavanya Raj
• Kalmi Horvath
• Sapna Mehta
• Hasmukh Patel
• Neha Patel
• Raji Vivekanandan
• Raksha Mishta
• Laura Bregman
• Deepa Krishnan

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Besan Roti is very flavorful and healthy flat bread, high in protein and gluten free. Besan roti can be served with dal and leafy green vegetables like spinach or with yogurt.

This recipe will make 6.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups besan gram flour (available in Indian grocery stores)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons yogurt (dahi)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1-1/2 tablespoon dry fenugreek leaves (kasoori mathi)
• Pinch of asafetida (hing)
• Approx. ¼ cup of water use as needed
• ¼ cup rice flour for rolling the roti
• Approx. 2 tablespoons butter or ghee (clarified butter)

Method

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl mix it well. Add oil and yogurt to the mixture and mix. This will become very crumbly. Oil the palm to make the dough as it will be very sticky. Add water as needed to make the firm dough.
2. Keep the dough aside and cover with damp cloth. Let the dough rest for at least ten minutes or more.
3. Divide the dough in 6 equal parts. Make them in smooth balls.
4. Take one ball press it in rice flour from both sides and roll into about 6-inch circle. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin or rolling surface, lightly dust the roti with rice flour.
5. Heat the skillet over medium high heat. Note: Heavy skillet works best.
6. Place the rolled roti on skillet. In few seconds roti will start changing color, turn roti over, both sides of roti will have few light brown spots.
7. Next place the roti on open burner using tong. The top part of roti should be down. Note: if you have gas stove you can put roti directly over high flames but if you have electric stove use cake cooling rack or similar over the burner so roti does not touch burner coil directly.
8. Grill the roti from both sides using tong until roti has golden brown spots both sides. Bottom part of roti should be up for serving brush the roti with ghee or butter.
9. Keep Besan Roti’s in a covered container or wrap them in aluminum foil. (Besan Roti becomes dry when they come to room temperature)

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Coconut Dream is a vegan delight, it is flavored with cardamom and saffron, very soothing and refreshing. Adding Agar-agar sets this dessert like jelly. It is super easy to make and taste great. I like to serve Coconut Dream chilled.

This recipe will serve 8.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 cup soy milk
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons agar-agar powder, available in Indian and Asian grocery stores
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom crushed
• ¼ cup coconut shredded
• Approx. 20 crushed pistachios
• Pinch of saffron crushed

Method

1. Boil coconut milk, soy milk, coconut, pistachios, and sugar over medium high heat. After milk comes to boil let it boil for about 7-8 minutes, stir occasionally.
2. Mix agar-agar, saffron, and cardamom powder with ¼ cup of lukewarm water making sure agar-agar is dissolved.
3. Add the agar-agar mixture to the milk and mix it well, let it boil for 3-4 minutes. Stir occasionally otherwise agar-agar can become lumpy. Turn off the heat.
4. Pour it into either flat dish or molds, while it is still hot. Note: As milk mixture will cool it will start getting firm.
5. Refrigerate for about 2-3 hours or until set. Serve chill.

Notes

Agar-agar is a vegetarian gelatin substitute made from seaweed vegetation. This works as a stabilizing and thickening agent for many recipes like custard and pudding. As this comes to room temperature it starts solidifying. Coconut Dream can be served at room temperature as it maintains its shape. But it taste best when it is served chilled.

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Crispy papad topped with spicy salad makes a very refreshing appetizer. Masala Papad is full of flavors and very tempting. This is a very simple and easy recipe to make.

Recipe will serve 2.

Ingredients:

• 2 plain papad, these are available in Indian grocery stores
• 2 medium size tomatoes, seeded and diced in very small pieces, this should make approx. 1cup
• 1/2 English cucumber, cut in very small pieces, it should be about ½ cup
• 2 tablespoons cilantro finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ginger finely shredded, optional
• 1green chili finely chopped, optional
• ½ lemon
• Approx. 2 teaspoon oil

Spice Mix for Garnishing

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dry roasted cumin seeds powder
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• Pinch red chili

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients to make a spice mix, set aside.
2. First lightly oil the papads from both sides, set aside.
3. Preheat the skillet over medium high heat.
4. Roast the papad over the heated skillet from both sides pressing with spatula. Papad will change the color to light yellow and have few golden brown spots (don’t overcook the papads), fold the papad in four making in triangle right over the skillet.
5. Remove from skillet and break the papad on the folds making them in four triangles.
6. Take one piece of papad and top it with cucumber, tomato, ginger, green chili, and cilantro.
7. Drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle the spice mix.

Notes

1. Removing the seeds from tomatoes, keep the papad crunchy.
2. English cucumber has more crispness and skin of the cucumber is tender.
3. You can do all the preparation for masala papad in advance and the toppings should be added just before serving.

Lately I have been in mood to work on new recipes and create some new dishes! Some recipes are inspirations from my trip to India and others are my own.

I am especially excited about a new dessert using coconut milk with Agar-agar. For those of you that don’t know Agar-agar is a sea weed and works like a vegetarian gelatin (similar to Jello-O). I have no idea why I wanted to make this as I have not tasted anything like this before with this combination. My first attempt as this dessert was not the best as it ended up like a brick as I used too much Agar-agar. However, I knew that I could perfect this recipe into something great! I knew I had to be patient and keep trying different variations. By my second, third and fourth attempt, the recipe was getting better and better. I like it more and more every time. Some of my friends have already tried this dessert out and the responses have been very encouraging. I am coming to the final trial; hopefully, my final perfected recipe will be ready soon. But still I don’t have a name for it.

Today my niece and her husband came for dinner. I decided on a menu with many of the recipes that am working on for the website. They both enjoyed the Masala Papad, Bread Vada, and lotus stem. Their opinions mean a lot to me and they are often my samplers of new recipes. I even had them sample the Coconut Agar-agar dessert and they came up with the name “Coconut Dream Dessert”. I think I like this name for the dessert!

My Coconut Dream Dessert will be coming pretty soon – just as soon as I perfect it. But in the meantime, look out for my next recipe of Besan Ki Roti, which is a gluten free flat bread. I truly enjoy putting in my own twists and variations to recipes to create something new and unique. Until next time….

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Rhubarb Chutney; you may call this relish or pickle. This Sweet and sour chutney with blend of spices taste grate and very addicting. This is a great complement to any meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound rhubarb, cut into ½-inch pieces
• 4 green chili cut into ½-inch pieces (if preferred mild recipe remove the seeds from chilies)
• Approx. 2 tablespoons ginger thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 1-1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1-1/2 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon of paprika for the color, optional
• 1/3 cup sugar adjust to taste

Method

1. In a blender coarsely ground the fenugreek, coriander, fennel and cumin seeds.
2. In a saucepan put the oil and add all the ingredients except the sugar. Mix it well.
3. Cook over medium heat until the rhubarbs are tender. This should take about 4-6 minutes. Stir the rhubarb occasionally to make sure it does not burn from the bottom.
4. Add sugar to the rhubarb and cook on low heat for about 1 minutes after rhubarb start sizzling.
5. You can refrigerate this chutney for about 6 weeks.

To celebrate spring, this month’s contest is to make a colorful spring salad. It must be accompanied by a homemade dressing. The salad can include fruit as well as vegetable. The vegetables may be cooked also. Mostly, I am looking for a healthy spring salad that is colorful. The specific rules for April are the following:

• Any type of salad with fruits and/or vegetables.
• You must also make a homemade dressing to go with the salad.
• It must be vegetarian and also egg-less.
• Please submit only ONE recipe.
• Please see my salad recipes for examples.

In general I will only consider recipes that I feel are complete in regards to ingredients, measurement, and instruction. From there I am looking for creativity and a recipe that my viewers would enjoy to prepare on their own. I will be judging on overall recipe and presentation also.

Below is my checklist:

• Be Creative!
• Ingredients should be listed with measurements.
• Method must be explained clearly, so it’s easy to follow.
• Please include your name along with the recipe (as you would like it to appear).
• Search the web for ideas. There are many resources available.
• Please send me a detailed recipe to contest@manjulaskitchen.com
• You must also send original picture(s) of the recipe – do not simply grab a photo from the web. Otherwise your recipe will not be considered for entry.
• The deadline is April 27th.
• The winner will be featured on the homepage with the new recipe and a link to their website (if available).

1st Prize: $100 gift certificate from Amazon.com
2nd Prize: $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com

**Anyone can join this contest**

I was happy to see so many bread recipes last month, but it was a lot more work this time to review, try and select the winners.  Thank you to everyone who participated and you all did a great job. However, I did have to disqualify some due to missing photo or copied recipes. Please make sure to send original photos in the email and if adapting a recipe from elsewhere, please don’t simply copy the recipe word for word. Here are the top five recipes and two winners from those:

Congratulations to both of you!!

• santoshbangar
• Cecilia Baldini
• Jyothi Babel
• Jyoti Agarwal
• Shanaz Sijad
• Kausar Ahmed
• Fathima Shadeela
• Ibbani Rao
• Swetha.c.r
• Sufiana Ali
• Sandhiya Balu
• Neeru Gopal
• Bren Brown
• Sumedha Bailur
• Rehana Khambaty
• Sreemanti Pathak
• Saranya Sajithkumar
• Nag Sai
• Deepa Subash
• Richa Pathak
• Tanya Jain
• Navita Mehra
• Ashwini Nagesh
• Sumaira Khan
• Krishnan Ganesan
• Bhuvana
• Subhra Das
• Hem Srivastava
• Subani Maheshwari
• Vijaya Raghunathan
• Dipti Joshi
• Parul Garg
• Hema Maria
• Bennat Benny
• Annapurna Yamma
• Subarna

• Priyanka Mathur
• Reshma Sinha
• Surabhi Surendra
• Deepti Rao
• Sneha Aralikatti
• Lakshmi Swetha
• Padmavathi G.
• Priya Suresh
• Aafreen Ansari
• Sucharita Roy
• Divya Kudua
• Shubha Satish
• Kalmi Horvath
• Monika Zielinski
• Vijay Boopathi
• Trasie Sikka
• Safia Hassan
• Devi Parvati
• Maria Lombardi
• Anima Khaleel
• Akhila Suparna
• Caitlin Cooks
• Shyamala Rao
• Parul Patel
• Ruchika Srivastava
• Richa Gupta
• Nav Sidhu
• Vinitha Krishnan
• Prachi Chaitanya Kumthekar
• Jaya Lakshmi Yamma
• Kavita Krishnan
• Saurabh Kumar
• Nibedita Das
• Vidya Sundararajan
• Radhika

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Spinach palak ki chaat is a mouthwatering appetizer. Spinach pakoras dipped into tamarind chutney and serve with crispy spinach leaves makes a very sophisticated h’orderves. Your friends and family will love it.

This recipe will serve 4.

Ingredients:

• Approx. 5oz spinach leaves
• 4 tablespoons besan, gram flour
• 4 tablespoons corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• Approx. 1/4 cup of water use as needed
• Oil to fry

For Serving

• Approx. 1/4 cup of tamarind sweet and sour chutney check out the recipe on my website.

Method

1. Clean and pat dry the spinach.
2. Keep about 10 large spinach leaves aside; chop the remaining spinach very fine, this will be about 2 cups of chopped spinach.
3. Next make the batter to fry the spinach leaves, mix 2 tablespoons of beasn, 2 tablespoons of corn starch, ¼ teaspoon of salt and black pepper. Add approx. 2 tablespoons of water slowly to make a batter. Note: batter should be thin in consistency but still should be able to cover the spinach for frying.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Frying pan should have approx. 1inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put one drop of batter in the oil. The batter should come up but not change color right away.
5. Dip the spinach leaves in the batter one at a time and slowly drop into the frying pan. Fry the spinach until both sides are light gold. Turn them occasionally. This will take about 2 minutes. Keep aside.
6. In left over batter add chopped spinach, salt, corn starch and besan mix it well, this should be the consistency of soft dough, add water as needed.
7. Take about 1tablespoon of batter shaping in small balls drop them into the oil. Fry them until they are golden brown. This should take about 4-5 minutes. Take them out over paper towel.

Serving suggestion

Dip the small pakoras in tamarind chutney and serve them with the fried spinach leaves.

Enjoy!