Snackorama

One Me Two Ways - New Event Announcement.

2011-06-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

This would be a monthly event, starts every month on 10th and ends on 10th of next month. The idea behind this event is, I select an ingredient every month and I would want you all to present two different recipes using that ingredient. And please note that the two recipes should belong to two different categories. For ex. if you use the ingredient to make a chutney/pickle then the second recipe should be a dal or sambar or anything other than chutney. Hope you all understood the idea. If you have any doubts please feel free to reach me at the below given email. Please note that the ingredient here can be a vegetable, pulses, spices, fruits etc., If I go crazy I may choose a recipe altogether and ask you guys to come up with two varieties using that dish. So lets have fun people...

This month I choose my favorite "Tomatoes". Please come up with two varieties of dishes using tomatoes as main ingredient.

Please send in your entries before 10th of next month ie., by July 10th I should get your wonderful entries. Please send in your entries to sundaysnack@gmail.com before the due date.
Feel free to use the logo presented below:

Looking forward your wonderful entries.

Pickle Mela Event Round Up

2011-06-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry all, I was away again for a long time. I got busy with lot of things going on. Anyways, I am back with the round up of my event Pickle Mela. I got so many delicious pickles to taste, I was so happy. I even made Andhra special, Avakaya and Magayi this year, but just did not get time to click few pics of them. So here are the list of pickles that I got for this event:

1. Dosavakaya from Suma of VeggiePlatter
2. Mamidi Allam pachadi from Suma of VeggiePlatter
3. Naranga achar/Lemon pickle from Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen
4. Mango Thokku Pickle from Radhika of Tickling Palette
5. Dosakai Pickle from Latha of A Peek into My Kitchen
6. Green Mango Pickle from Nandini of Nandini's Food Page
7. Raw Mango Pickle from Sadhana of SensibleVeg
8. Tomato Pickle from Usha of My Spicy Kitchen
9. Tomato Pickle from Shobha of Food Mazaa
10. Instant Raw Mango Pickle from Mom Chef of What's Cooking?
11. Cauliflower Pickle from Mythreyi of Yum! Yum! Yum!
12. Manga Curry from Ammupatti of AmmuPatti's thoughts
13. Kadumanga, Kannimanga from Ammupatti of Ammupatti's thoughts
14. Mouth Watering Pickles from Nivedita of Nivedita's Kitchen
15. Chilli Pickle from Shobha of Food Mazaa
16. Fresh Prawn Pickle from Sonali Pradhan of Only Fish Recipes
17. Ginger-Chilli Pickle from Sona of VeggieFoodie
18. Nepalese Aloo Achar from Richa of Ambrosia
19. Fenugreek Coriander Thokku from Krithi of Krithi's Kitchen
20. Kumquat Pickle from Amritha of AK's Vegetarian Recipe World
21. Carrot/Cauliflower Pickle from Neetu of TipsNdeals
22. Mango Thokku from Uma Shankar of Jaya's Recipes
23. Mango Thokku from Shanavi of Kitchen Secrets
24. Green Chilli Pickle from Uma Shankar of Jaya's Recipes

Will be back tomorrow with new event announcement.

Mamidipandu Rava Kesari (Mango Sheera)

2011-03-03T08:20:00.000-08:00

Rava Kesari is one of my favorite sweets. I already posted twice rava kesari recipes. Both those are made using fruits in them. One is Orange - Sojjappalu and Fruit Kesari. This time I experimented with Mango pulp in it. Later when I researched I came to know that Mango Rava Kesari is also called as Mango Sheera and is a traditional sweet made in Maharashtra. So, I went ahead and made this recipe.

1/3 cup Bombay rava
1/3 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Ghee
1/3 cup Mango pulp
1/3 cup Water
1/3 cup Milk
4 Green cardamom (powdered)
2 tbsp Cashews
2 tbsp Raisins

Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a non-stick pan. Fry cashews and raisins in the ghee until they turn golden brown in colour. Add the rava and fry until the raw smell goes away. Add sugar, cardamom powder to the rava and fry for a minute. Add mango pulp, milk and water to the rava and cook on low flame until the rava is cooked well. Add the rest of the 2 tbsp ghee to the pan and keep stirring for few more minutes. Remove from flame and serve it hot.

Kesari is usually made on the for Satyanarayana puja as prasad. You can substitute water with milk entirely or milk with water. It entirely depends on your wish. Either way it tastes good.

This is going to Past is Present - JFI -Re-Run - Mango being hosted by Satya of My Innovative Kitchen.

This is also going to Celebrate Sweets - Warm Desserts event being hosted by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes originally started by Nivedita of Nivedita's Kitchen.

This is also going to Flavors of Maharashtra event being hosted by PJ of Seduce Your Taste Buds.

Ginger & Mint flavoured Lemon Juice

2011-02-25T09:20:00.000-08:00

Lemon juice is what I prefer to have daily in the morning after little walk. And in hot summer, cool juice is always refreshing. I made slightly changes to the simple juice and improvised it with different flavours.

2 Lemons

2 sprigs Mint

1" piece Ginger grated

1 tbsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

3 cups Water

1 cup Soda water

Take chopped mint and ginger into a ding-chik and slightly mash and add to the water. Squeeze juice from the lemons and add to the water. Add sugar and salt and keep the jug in the refrigerator overnight.

Next day morning strain away the ginger and mint that is added to the water and add the soda water. Add some chopped fresh mint leaves if you would like and serve them in glasses.

This chilled lemon juice with ginger and mint flavour is sure a winner.

This is off to Juice Recipes Event being hosted by Dr. Sameena at My Culinary Creations and Healing foods - Ginger & Garlic Event being hosted by Sara of Sara's Corner and Herbs and Flowers in my platter - Mint being hosted by PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds.

Announcing Pickle/Achar/Uragayi Mela Event

2011-02-08T22:49:00.000-08:00

Summer is very close by and all our mothers and grand mothers get ready to prepare pickles that stay year long. I am a spicy food lover and pickles on my lunch menu satisfy me. In Andhra especially many varieties of pickles are made with various types of vegetables. To name few, mangoes, raw tamarind (chintakayalu), Goose Berries/Amla (usirikayalu), fresh Red chillies (not dry red chillies)(pandumirapakayalu), tomatoes etc. Usually I get these pickles from my mother or mother-in-law. This time, since I am in hyderabad, I want to try my hands in making these lovely pickles. So, I want to host this event to call all the fellow bloggers to show off your experience in making these lovely pickles.

Another intention of hosting this event is to learn, how pickles are made across the India, cause north-indian pickles/achar taste different with some masalas in them. Oh! I love to have them with nice lovely parathas. So bring it on girls I am waiting here.

Please send in your entries on or before March 31st, 2011 with the following details to sundaysnack@gmail.com:

Name:
Blog Name:
Recipe Name:
Recipe URL:

I will pick the images from your blogs so do not send them in the email please. Using the logo give here is much appreciated.

Waiting to see all the lovely entries..

Here are some them that I already posted here in this blog:
Ginger Pickle
Dosavakai

Chukkakura Pappu

2010-12-15T04:52:00.000-08:00

I don't know how many of you know about this wonderful leavy vegetable but people hailing from andhra would definitely identify it as chukkaaku. I am not sure what is it called in english for that matter in any other language. It is kind of sour in taste something close to sorrel leaves(gongura). A dal made out of this is awesome and you would definitely want to try it once. This is one leavy vegetable that I missed during my stay in US. I could never find this may be because this do not stay for too long. It is such a sensitive leavy vegetable that gets spoiled pretty quickly. I made dal with this leaves and here I am presenting it for all you guys:

3 small bunches of chukka kura
1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
few curry leaves

Pressure cook these in just enough water for upto 3 to 4 whistles.

Salt as per taste
1 tsp kura karam or red chilli powder

After the cooker cools off add the above ingredients to the cooked dal and keep it back on stove and cook for few more minutes. Turn off stove.

Tempering:

1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 red chilli cut into two
a dash of hing

Heat oil in a pan and add the tempering ingredients and when the mustard seeds splutter add this to the cooked dal. Thats it, how simple is that. You can have this with hot steamed rice or with hot soft chapathis.

There are many Dals from Andhra that are presented in this blog under Sunday meals section.

Linking this to CMT - Daal/Kadhi/Sambar/Rasam event being hosted by Priya Srinivasan of Enveetu Kitchen originally started by Jagruthi of Joy of Cooking.

Banana Poppers

2010-12-10T01:56:00.000-08:00

Are you wondering, what in the heaven made me come up with this idea... Events.. Events in this blog world make you think and try something new, think out of box and come up with tasty and innovative ideas. We all need to thank these events which encourage you to explore yourself and look out for something all the time. That way you never get bored with cooking as you don't cook the same stuff over and over again and again. I was slightly skeptical while making them but after I took a bite I was glad that I made these. My daughter swiped away all of them. This can be a great healthy finger food for kids who love fruits (ofcourse, cause my son din't want them as he doesn't eat fruits. Not even one single fruit. He hates them. I hope he tries them as he grows up.)

1 Banana chopped into bite size pieces

2 tbsp Corn flour

2 tbsp All purpose flour

Salt as per taste

1/2 cup Bread crumbs

1/2 tsp red chilli flakes

1 tsp oregano seasioning or basil leaves and some garlic powder

Oil to fry.

Method:

1. Heat a tsp oil in each whole of gunta ponganala(kuzhi paniyaram) pan.

2. Dip each piece into the batter first and then into bread crumbs and drop each piece into each whole of the pan. Advantage of frying in this pan is that you will end up using less oil and also the entire oil will not get dirty with bread crumbs in the hot oil. So try not to deep fry unless you do not have that pan.

3. Fry it on all sides and carefully take it into a place.

4. Serve it with any dipping of your choice. I din't even have to go that far...

They are crispy from outside and soft from inside, a perfect blend of sweet and savory. Hope you will also like it. Enjoy.

This is off to Aipi for her event Veggie/Fruit a Month - Banana and Food Palette Series White being hosted by TorView at TorViewToronto.

My Experience & Yummy Tomato Soup

2010-12-02T22:05:00.000-08:00

I blink like a star once in a while in my blog and then go to sleep for a long time. Ya, I know, I haven't been taking much interest in blogging these days and the reason is my health. It took way and taking way long time to recover. I am not sure do I need to mention here but I think its my responsibility to let you all know if may be it might help few of them out there who are thinking about cosmetic surgery.

I was plump right from my childhood, thanks to my aunts from whom I got this. I was so innocent and never knew about cosmetic surgeries until I went to US and fell in love with some of the shows that showed miracles happen on women's bodies. That was when I decided to go for cosmetic surgery called Liposuction, after coming back to india I approached a doctor and got that done, in first quarter of this year. Due to skin sensitivity my skin got burnt and the top layer is gone. In medical terms it was something similar to 1st degree burn. It took around 6 months to recover from that and still I have physiotherapy pending. There is a saying in telugu called 'Korivitho talagokkovadam". I repent now, why did I ever decide to go for it. Anyways, I wanted to mention it here because if there is someone out there who is thinking about it, please think once again and do find out about your skin type also, like how sensitive it is.

And coming to Soup:

I always love Tomato soup here in Indian restaurants. It is just yummy and especially with those fried bread pieces. All generations that is my mom, me and now my kids are fond of this soup. I always wondered how do they make it. I wanted to take a chance and make it at home and I must say that I am pretty impressed with the outcome. It is as close as the restaurant one.

Here is the method I followed to make it:

Tomato Soup with fried bread pieces

9 medium size red juicy tomatoes
1 small onion
1 tbsp olive oil
5 garlic cloves (medium size, if you are using the US ones use only 3 of them)
Salt as per taste
Pepper as per taste
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp sugar

1. Wash, make a cross mark and cook for few minutes in plenty of water for a min.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add garlic and onion, fry until they are translucent.
3. Take the tomatoes, if you want you can peel them off, but I like to have everything in there so just chop the tomatoes into byte size pieces and drop them into the pan.
4. Cook until the tomatoes are fully cooked.
5. Switch off the stove and let the tomatoes cool
6. Take it into a blender and make a smooth paste of it.
7. Add some water and put it back into pan and now add some salt, pepper and sugar.
8. Melt the corn flour into little water and pour the mixture into the tomatoes paste.
9. Bring it to boil and let it boil until it thickens. You may substitute all purpose flour instead of corn flour. I will use that next time when I make.
10. Turn off the stove and take it into a serving bowl.
11 . I mixed in some red food colour for nice vibrant red colour.

I fried two brown bread pieces in hot oil and dropped them into soup, without which my kids would never like to have their soup. I also cooked some macaroni pasta and added to the soup so that it will become a complete dinner for them.

Tomato Soup with fried bread pieces

This is off to TorViewToronto for her event Food Palette Red hosted at blog TorView

PS: Now I noticed my soup section is pathetic. I need to fill in soup good healthy soups. Stay tuned, this time I have a plan to stick around for some time.

Oats Idli

2010-03-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

I learned, Oats help in reducing cholesterol problems. This time when I knew for JFI it is healthy breakfast. I thought of making Oats idli. I was skeptical though whether they would turn out good. I seriously wanted to give it a try and see, why not learn on trial and error basis. First time I used only oats to make idlis but they turned out like kudumulu, little tough and not spongy. So I changed and used wheat rava to make slightly soft idlis. With chutney or sambar they are really good.

Here is how I made them:

Oats and Wheat Rawa Idlis Served with Andhra Avakaya

1 cup Urad dal
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 1/2 cups Oats (toast them slightly on medium flame and then grid them into coarse powder like rawa)
1 1/2 cups Wheat rawa (in the same pan on heat I slightly heated rawa also)
Salt as per taste

1. Wash and soak urad dal and fenugreek seeds for 5 to 6 hours.
2. Soak oats rawa and wheat rawa with just little enough water for the same number of hours.
3. Drain water and grind urad dal into a smooth paste
4. Mix it with the soaked rawa and add salt as per taste.
5. Let it ferment for overnight.
6. Next day morning grease the idli molds and pour the batter into each mold. And cook them in the pressure cooker with out whistle for 18 to 20 minutes.
7. Take out the lid of the cooker and let the idlis cook a little bit before removing them into a plate.
8. Serve it with any chutney of your choice.

I may want to make 2 cups wheat rawa and 1 cup oats rawa and see if the idlis will turn out more fluffy next time when I make. If they remain the same then I want to revert back and use the above mention proportion. Stay tuned to know the verdict after change.

This is my contribution to JFI-Healthy Breakfasts being hosted by Suma of Veggie Platter, originally started by Indira of Mahanandi and also to Vegetable Marathon - Beans hosted by Silpa of Anita's Kitchen

Ven Pongal for Blog Bites

2010-03-25T04:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a very long break for me, as you all know the reason. I moved to INDIA and it took this long for me to settle and be back again to blog. My first entry for events was with an entry to Nupur's A-Z series. And I am back again with an entry for her Blog Bites event.

This is my buddi (small in telugu) hard anodized handi (pressure cooker) that I bought using the small amounts that I get paid from Foodbuzz. It is baby model which is good enough for our small family.

I made Ven pongal from Suganya's Tasty Platter. I followed the same recipe as it is, except for the cashews which I forgot to add.

So, this is on its way to Nupur's One Hot Stove for her Blog Bites event.

Sunday Snacks - Fry it Round up

2008-10-31T11:21:00.001-07:00

First off sorry to each and every contributor to this event, that I could not comment on your submissions as I am so busy with my moving. Here is the list of entries that I received this time.

Goli Baje from Uma of Essence of Andhra
Banana Sweet Appam from Sujatha of Spicy Khazana
Coriander Medhu Vadai from Priya Suresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
Sprouted Moongdal Pakodas from Priya Suresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
Oats Vadai from EC of Simple Indian Food
Surna Phodi - Yam Fritters from Divya Kudua of Easy Cooking
Zucchini Fries from Cham of Spice Club
Ribbon Pakoda from Vijaya of Daily Meals
Vegetable Kababs from Sireesha of Mom's recipes
Chana Dal Masala Vada from Pallavi of All Thingz Yummy
Goli Baje from Sushma of Savi-ruchi
Pakoda and Shavige Payasa from Lakshmi of Taste of Mysore
Veggie Wonton from Shifali Katyal of Recipes and More
Jantikalu from Aparna of Sumi's Weblog
Shallow Fried Idli's from Shruti of Yummy4tummy
Paneer Bread Pakoras from Apu of Annarasa
Pazham Pori from Jayasree of Kailas Kitchen
Murukku from Divya of Dil Se
Athirasam from Divya of Dil Se
Srathul from MT of Menu Today
Masal Vadai from Vidhya of Appetizing Recipe
Maida Biscuits from Srivalli of Spice your Life
Potato Bonda from Vidhya of Appetizing Recipes
Ribbon pakoda from Prema Sundar of Prema's CookBook
Methi na bhujia from Meera of Enjoy Indian Food

My entries for the event are

Masala Vada
Pesara Garelu

This event will be continued by Pallavi of All Thingz Yummy. So to participate in further coming themes please head to her blog.

Pesara Garelu

2008-10-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

Sick of eating the same Medhu Vadas all the time, then try this variation. These are made with whole moong dal. Here is the recipe:

1 cup Moong Dal
1/4 cup Urad Dal
1" piece of Ginger
3 to 4 Green chillies
Salt as per taste
a pinch of Baking Soda

Wash and soak moong dal overnight. Just before 3 to 4 hours before wash and soak urad dal also. Grind both dals along with ginger, green chillies and salt. Add baking soda to the batter.

Wet your both hands. Take a lemon size batter and spread it on your left hand palm. Dip your right hand finger into water again and make a small hole and drop it with your right hand into the hot oil. Fry until they turn golden brown colour.

They taste excellent with any pickle of your choice. Enjoy.

This is contribution to my own event called Sunday Snacks with the theme being Fry it.

Lacha Paratha

2008-10-14T12:53:00.001-07:00

This is a better variation to the normal phulkas. Its flaky texture temps you to have more than two easily and when you pair it with a wonderful gravy, they taste awesome. For the first time when I made them, I fell in love instantaneously. Here is how you make them:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp oil
warm water as needed

Rub oil into the flour and then add warm water as needed and make a stiff dough. Let it rest for an hour.

Make lemon sized balls out of the dough. Take a ball and roll into oval shape. Coat the top side oil and sprinkle flour generously. Now fold it from one side to other side like a saree pleats. Now roll it like a coil and continue to do the same with other balls too.

Now heat a tawa/pan on medium-high heat. Roll each coil shaped ball into a flat chapathi. Fry it on both sides applying little oil. Remove from the pan and put it on a paper towel or kitchen towel and press it from sides such that the flakes will seperate.

Serve it with any gravy of your choice. I served it with my favorite Alu Gobi.

This is off to Zorra for her World Bread Day event.

Masala Vada

2008-10-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

These vadas are nothing new to food blog world. Almost every blog has a recipe posted for masala vada. This is such a famous snack, especially for south indians. My husband loves them so much, so I make them most often. Here is the recipe for the masala vadas that I usually make:

1 cup Chana dal soaked for 45 minutes
2-3 green chillies
1/2" piece of ginger chopped roughly
1 tsp cumin seeds
few curry leaves
salt as per taste
1 small onion chopped finely
oil to fry

Drain chana dal and take all the ingredients except onion into a blender and blend them all together without adding any water into a coarse paste. Add chopped onion to the paste. Make small patties in your palm and fry them in hot oil. Serve them with any chutney or sauce of your liking. I served them with Tomchi suace.

Such a simple recipe and tastes great. This is my first contribution to my own event called Sunday Snacks with the theme Fry it.

Sunday Snacks - Bake it Round Up

2008-10-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

As usual before going to the list of items I received for the theme Bake it, let me present you with the theme for the next month.

For the month of October lets go little unhealthy by frying a snack. Yes, the theme for this month is Fry it. Send in any snack that is shallow fried or deep fried in oil. Please see that you come up with a new item and do not send an item that is already posted before.

The last date for this month will be the last sunday ie., 26th of October. Send in your name, your blog name, name of the entry and the URL to ybinds@gmail.com. I am so sorry I forgot to mention the email id before. Please feel free to use the following logo and spread the word.

One more thing I would like to bring to your notice is that I am going back to India for good in month of november. So I will not be able to continue with this event any more. Any blogger interested in taking up this event may contact me.

And here is the list of wonderful entries that I received for the theme Bake it.

Cumin Cookies from Divya of Dil Se

Eggless Chocolate Cake from Madhuram of Eggless Cooking

Eggless Sponge Cake from Jayasree of Experiments in Kaila’s Kitchen

Sweet and Spicy Bread Basket from Suma of Suma’s Cuisine

Chimp Cakes from Pavani of Cook’s Hideout

Lemony Little hearts from Divya Vikram of Dil Se

Egg puffs from Divya of and a little bit more

Fruit Chocolate and Almonds Granola Bars from Yasmeen of Health Nut

Fruity Chunky chocolate cookies(Vegan) from Yasmeen of Health Nut

Cherry Blueberry Scones from Yasmeen of Health Nut

Almond Cherry Banana Cookies(Vegan) from Yasmeen of Health Nut

Biscotti from Yasmeen of Health Nut

Granola Cookies from Yasmeen of Health Nut

Spiced up Pop-corn from Yasmeen of Health Nut

Bread Custard Pudding from Sowmya of Creative Saga

Mungbean sprouts roll from Sowmya of Creative Saga

Homemade Oven Ba ked Potato Chips from Divya of Dil Se

Blueberry Yogurt Cake from Mandira of Ahaar

Fat Free Quick Ras malai from Divya of and a little bit more

Vegetable Burger with Chick Peas and beans from Shifali of Recipes and More

Sugar Hearts from Priya of Priya’s Easy and Tasty Recipes

Upside Down PineApple Cake from Priya of Priya’s Easy and Tasty Recipes

Quick Pecan Bites from Sweatha of Tastycurryleaf

Tutti Fruity Cake from Sukanya of Sukanya’s Musings

Vegan Pizza Pockets from Madhuram of Eggless Cooking

Jalapeno Poppers from Cham of Spice club

Eggless Apple Almond Cookies from Sangeeth of Let us all cook

Stawberry Apple Almond Cookies from Sangeeth of Let us all cook

Cilantro Pinwheels from Usha of My Spicy Kitchen

Oven Roasted Garlic Potato Wedges from Divya of and a little bit more

Fusion Farinata from Soma of eCurry

Yummy Zucchini Nut Bread from Pallavi of All Thingz Yummy

Bread Pizza from Divya of Easy Cooking

Baked Gobi Manchurian from Bhawana of from my palate

Baked Onion Pakoda from Uma of Essence of Andhra

Almond Biscotti from Aparna of Sumi’s Weblog

Oven Roasted Kale from Geeta of Payt Pooja

Corn Patties from Manali of Manali’s Cravings

Spicy Paneer filled Rolls from Apu of Annarasa

Crispy Chewy Oatmeal Walnut Cookies from Becke of Columbus Foodie

Crispy lentil fritters - Healthy Masala Vadai from Divya of and a little bit more

Wheat Barley Sesame Crackers from Usha of Veg Inspirations

I hope I added all the missed ones as well. Please let me know if I missed any one of them.

And here are my entries to this event.

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Eggless Vanilla cake

Baked Bread Rolls

Celebrating 100th post with Birthday Cake (Eggless)

2008-09-23T15:43:00.001-07:00

This is my 100th post and I am celebrating it with the cake that I baked for my daughter's birthday. My journey in the food blog world was pretty slow, but I hope the visitors enjoyed the recipes that I posted here.

20th September is my daughter's birthday and I had a desire to bake a cake for the occasion. Again problem is to bake an eggless cake. After some research and trials I followed this recipe for cake. It turned out great. The cake was moist and fluffy. Let me write down how I did and I would also like to write down the recipe here once again.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (I did not have apple cider vinegar, I guess you can use white vinegar too)
1 ½ scant cups plain soymilk
2 1/8 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 1/8 cups sugar
½ cup oil
1 ¼ tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Grease two 9" cake pans with butter. Line the bottom with wax paper. This helps in removing the cake from the pan easily.

Take vinegar in bottom of the measuring cup and fill with soymilk which should make one and half cups. Mix well and set aside for few minutes. You should see that the mixture will curdle.

In a bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add oil and vanilla extract to the soymilk mixture and pour the mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix such that everything is well combined and you don't see any lumps. Divide the batter into both the pans.

Bake in the middle rack for about 20 to 25 minutes. Place the cakes pans on the wire rack and let them cool. Place them in the refrigerator to cool them completely.

For Frosting:

6 tbsp butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup milk
4 cups confectioner sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter until it is smooth and creamy. Add 2 cups of sugar, 2 tbsp milk and vanilla extract. Beat until it is smooth. Repeat the same with the remaining sugar and milk, adding 1 cup sugar and 1 tbsp milk at a time. The frosting should be smooth, creamy and fluffy. I took little portion aside and added green colour to that (this is to write the letters on the cake). To the rest of it I added pink colour.

Take the cakes out. I cut one of the cakes to level it, but I was not successful at cutting it properly. Reason could be that the cake was still warm. I did not have enough time to cool them completely. Next time when I make I may want to invert the cake bringing the bottom on top. Place a portion of frosing on the top and spread with spatula. Place the other cake on top of this and place the remaining frosting on the top of this cake. Spread on the top and sides with this frosting using spatula. Level it properly. I took the green colour frosting in an icing bag and wrote the letters and slightly decorated the cake.

I am sending this to my own event Sunday Snacks with the theme being Bake it.

Baked Bread Rolls

2008-09-15T06:51:00.001-07:00

I had Natures own 7 Whole Grains bread in my refrigerator and was close to expiration date. I was making Grill cheese sandwich or toast it and eat with cream cheese. But still had more than half the packet so I planned to make these bread rolls. These are usually deep fried in oil, but I wanted a healthier version with healthy bread. So, I baked them. They were not too crispy but were good enough to have them as snack. Here is the recipe:

For Stuffing:

2 medium potatoes
1 small onion
1/4 cup green peas
2 green chillies
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp coriander-cumin powder
1/2 tsp amchur powder
salt as per taste
a pinch turmeric powder
1/2 tsp channa dal
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
few curry leaves

1. Peel and boil potatoes in salted water. Drain and keep them aside.

2. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and add channa dal, urad dal and mustard seeds. When the dals turn golden brown colour add curry leaves, green chillies, onion and saute until onion is transluscent.

3. Add the ginger-garlic paste, coriander cumin powder, amchur powder, turmeric and saute for couple more minutes.

4. Add boiled potatoes and stir well until everything is well blended. Mash the potatoes with the back of the spoon slightly. Add little salt and mix well.

For Bread rolls:

8 slices of Bread (you can use any bread of your choice)
water to dip the bread

Dip each slice of bread in water and immediately squeeze out the water. Place a big spoon full of curry in the middle of the bread and roll it to cover the curry. Place it on a non-stick cookie pan. Make sure the rolled ends are placed down so that they don't open up. Continue the same procedure with the rest of the bread slices.

Pre-heat oven at 375 degrees F. In the mean time place the bread rolls in the refrigerator. Once the oven is ready, coat each bread roll with little oil and place them in the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes. Set the oven to broil and place the bread rolls on the top of the rack and wait for just few seconds. This is to bring little colour to the top of the bread rolls. Hot hot bread rolls are ready to be snacked on.

This goes to my own event Sunday Snacks with the theme Bake it.

I would like to send this to Dhivya vikram of Dil se for her event called Diet Foods. To make it more healthier and to add protien to them, make the stuffing with some legumes or with paneer or tofu.

Dum Aloo

2008-09-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

Once my brother bought Dum Aloo from frozen section in an Indian store. I liked the taste so much that I wanted to reproduce it at home. I noted down the ingredients from the box and came up with this recipe. I must say I was pretty impressed with the way it turned out. Everybody at home liked it, especially my brother. Here is the recipe:

10 baby potatoes
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp kasuri methi
Cilantro to garnish

For Masala paste:
1/4 cup peanuts
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp coconut fresh grated
1 small onion
1 tbsp coriander cumin powder
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup tomato puree
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 serrano pepper or green chillies
salt as per taste

Peel and prick with fork on baby potatoes. Boil them in salted water until they are tender. Drain and fry them in little oil until they turn slightly golden brown.

Slightly roast peanuts, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Take them into blender and add the rest of the ingredients for masala. Blend them into a fine puree.

Heat 2 to 3 tbsp oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, let them splutter and then add the puree, salt and let it cook until oil seperates. Now add the boiled baby potatoes, kasuri methi and let it cook for five more minutes and turn off the heat. Garnish with cilantro and serve with either roti or rice.

Hyderabadi Bagara Baingan

2008-08-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

This is a popular and most favorite dish for any hyderabadi. For any function, be it wedding or birthday parties or engagement parties, this dish will surely appear in the buffet. Small whole brinjals/eggplants are used for this dish and goes well with either biryani or chapathis.

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law and I tweaked it slightly.

12 small round brinjals
1/2 cup peanuts
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tsp ginger garlic paste (adjust as per your taste)
2-3 green chillies
1 small onion
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 small lime size tamarind
salt as per taste

1. Roast peanuts, sesame seeds and poppy seeds seperately. Take them into a blender and blend into a smooth paste.

2. Cut the brinjals into 4 parts with the stem intact. It should be like a cross mark. Fry them in some oil until they are slightly tender. While frying add some salt to brinjals so that they don't change their colour. Once they are tender take them aside.

3. In the same pan add some more oil and add cumin seeds. Once they start spluttering, add the sliced onion and green chillies. Saute until onion turns transluscent and then add some turmeric powder and peanut paste. Add red chilli powder, salt and little water and cook covered until the gravy leaves oil.

4. Extract tamarind pulp and add to the gravy. Now add the fried brinjals and garam masala to the gravy and cook for another 10 minutes or until the gravy thickens and brinjals are well done.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with either biryani or chapathis.

Sending this to Mona who is hosting RCI-Authentic Hyderabadi Cuisine.

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-08-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

I am so happy and thrilled today. Reason??, well I successfully baked a set of cookies. I am so fond of baking, but the challenge I always have is to bake eggless stuff. Be it cookies, cakes, muffins anything. I do eat eggs but indirectly. I cannot stand the smell of it in the freshly baked goods. So, when I make anything at home, I do it eggless way. I baked my ever favorite chocolate chip cookies today and succeeded. They were so moist and soft inside and slightly crispy outside. The best part is my daughter too liked them. She is not a big fan of sweet stuff but she kept asking me "mummy cookie". That gives lot of satisfaction after hard work.

Here is the recipe that I followed:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs ( I used 2 tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 tbsp warm water )
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup All purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F with wire rack in center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I had only a piece of it which I used the rest I just placed them directly on the baking sheet. Those had a crispy bottom, because of the butter they will not stick to the baking sheet. So if you do not have parchment paper do not worry and place them directly on the baking sheet.

I do not have an electric mixer so I used food processor for this process. Bring butter to room temperature and place it in the food processor bowl. Cream it. Add both sugars and run the processor until fluffy. In a blender, take the ground flaxseed and water and beat it until frothy. Add that to the butter mixture and run the processor until well blended. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated.

In another bowl take flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry to the wet ingredients and run the processor until the mixture forms into a ball. Take it into a bowl, add chocolate chips and pecans. If you find the dough to be too soft, cover and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes or until it forms a firm dough. I did not find it too soft so I just proceeded and dropped about 2 tbsp dough balls on the baking sheet. Bake it for about 8 - 10 minutes or until the cookies turn golden brown.

Hot hot chocolate chip cookies are ready to be served. You will not believe that these are eggless unless if you are used to the smell of eggs in baked products. My daughter eats raw dough, calling it as "pind"(In telugu dough is called pindi). I don't have to hesitate giving her the raw dough, as it does not have raw eggs in it.

I am sending these goodies to my own event called Sunday Snacks - the theme being Bake it.

Palak Paneer

2008-08-23T03:27:00.000-07:00

As I said earlier in one of posts, Palak Paneer is one of my favorite paneer dish. But I like the that it is served in restaurants at Hyderabad, not the Saag paneer that we get here in USA. It is too bland or rather sweet to my taste buds. So, I had to make it at home according to my requirements to satisfy my taste buds. Here is the recipe that I came up with:

200 grms paneer ( I used fried paneer)
1 big bunch Spinach (blanch in plenty of water, drain and make a puree of it)
1 small onion finely minced
1 medium tomato (blanch a bit, remove skin and make a puree of it)
1 big serrano pepper or 2-3 green chillies
1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp kasuri methi
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp oil
1/3 cup evaporated milk
salt as per taste

Slightly fry paneer and put them in hot water so that they will remain soft.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When they splutter add onion and green chillies. Saute until the onion turns golden brown colour. Now add ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, turmeric powder and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add tomato puree, red chilli powder and cook until the oil leaves the gravy. Add spinach puree, crushed kasuri methi, salt and cook covered until the whole gravy leaves oil and everything is well blended. Add paneer, garam masala and evaporated milk and turn off the heat. Let it be on the stove until the stove cools off.

Enjoy palak paneer with any indian bread. It tastes great when you squeeze a lime and serve with a slice of onion. I served them with plain phulkas.

This is off to EC of Simple Indian Food for her WYF-Colour in Food event.

Announcing new event - Sunday Snacks

2008-08-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

At my place, saturdays are busiest days and sundays are slightly relaxed days. Saturday we go out for chores, movies, meet friends etc., where as on sunday we stay back at home, making preparations for the coming week. And in the evenings we sit in front of TV with any snack. So, I am here by calling all the foodies to contribute for that lazy sunday snacks. Every month I will pick an ingredient or theme based on which we will come up with only snacks and nothing else. Keep in mind, desserts like, cakes, cup cakes, muffins, cookies, and sweets like, jilebi, jaangri, burfi etc., are also considered as snacks in my books. Rice items, like pulihora, pulav etc., are slightly heavy but acceptable. So hope you will all be ready to contribute for this event.

The last date for your entries will be every last sunday of that month and by following sunday I will post the round up. Like with my previous event Whats Your Favorite (currently being hosted by EC) you do not have to send me the pictures. If necessary I will collect them from your blog. I just need the following information:

Your Name
Recipe Name
Recipe URL

It is that simple, so hope to see you all with lovely entries by next September last Sunday. Send in your entries to sundaysnack@gmail.com.

The theme for the month is Bake it. Please feel free to use the below logo and spread the word.

Images courtesy: Google Search

You can send any number of entries, there is no limit.

Note: The posts from this blog are not getting updated on TOI. To stay updated please subscribe here by clicking the subscribe links provided on the top left corner.

Sun-dried Tomato,Almond and Cilantro pesto

2008-08-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

After a long time of gap I made italian food at home. My husband is a great fan of Italian food, where as I was initially reluctant towards it as it is too bland for my taste buds. But gradually I got used to the taste and now I love to have it every once in a while. I just made a simple pesto, to go along with angel hair pasta. My daughter who is two year old also loves to eat pasta and pizzas. I was so satisfied when she loved to have it over and over again.

Here is the recipe:

3 big fist full of Angel hair pasta cooked in lots of salt water

For pesto:
1/2 cup Sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
1/3 cup Grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Almonds toasted slightly
1/2 cup Cilantro
1 Garlic Clove
1/2 tsp Red chilli flakes
2 tbsp EVOO
Salt as per taste

Take all the pesto ingredients into a blender and blend into a coarse paste. Drain pasta reserving some water to add to pesto as needed. Add pesto to the pasta and mix nicely until everything is well blended. If it is too dry, add the pasta cooked water to get to the right consistency. Thats it pasta with delicious pesto is ready.

This is off to DK of Culinary Bazaar for her AWED with the theme being Italian Food.

Channa Masala

2008-08-13T06:31:00.001-07:00

Thanks to all my food blog buddies who took time to visit my blog and wished me and my little one. That is so touching. We named him Venkata Harsha. So now I have a girl and a boy. The picture is complete.

Coming to recipe, while I was in hyderabad, whenever I go out to eat, I use to order Palak paneer and paneer butter masala. Thats it, never tried any other dishes at all. After coming to US I could never order saag paneer as it is too sweet and bland for my taste level. So I had an empty slot to fill with various other recipes to try. Of those Channa masala has become one of our favorites to me and my husband. I decided to make it at home to host a party on last sunday and guess what it was a grand success. So, I am here by sharing the recipe that I made with success:

Channa Masala:

1 can chickpeas
1 tea bag
1 medium onion
2 medium tomatoes
1 big serrano pepper or 2-3 green chillies
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
couple of bay leaves
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
salt as per taste
chopped cilantro to garnish
1 lime
2 tbsp oil

1. Drain the chickpeas from the can, wash under running water thoroughly and take into a bowl. Fill with water to cover the chickpeas, drop a tea bag and cook until the chickpeas absorb a nice colour from the tea. Make sure they do not get too mushy. They should be soft and still hold their shape.

2. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and add chopped onion, green chillies. Cook until onion turns into golden brown colour.

3. Add ginger garlic paste and cook until raw smell is gone. To this add coriander powder, turmeric powder and cook for a minute and then add chopped tomatoes. Cover and cook until tomatoes are completely cooked. Take this entire mixture into a blender and blend into a fine paste. I used food processor for this procedure.

4. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan add cumin seeds and bay leaves. When the cumin seeds start spluttering add the above mixture. Add salt and red chilli powder and cook until the gravy leaves oil.

5. Now add the cooked channa to the gravy and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes to blend all the flavors together.

6. Before turning off the heat sprinkle garam masala and mix it well. Garnish with chopped cilantro and squeeze a lime if you want sour taste to the dish.

Voila channa masala is ready to be served with hot hot bhaturas. I will post my bhatura recipe very soon. Hope you will enjoy this as much as we all enjoyed it.

Off this goes to Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons for her Curry Mela event.

Oh btw! I have also been showered with Brilliant Web Blog award by EC of Simple Indian Food and Trupti of Recipe Center.

I pass this on to all my food blog buddies who take time to visit my site and encourage me to cook more delicious varieties of dishes.

Good news and a recipe (Onion rings)

2008-08-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

I have been on break once again. Well, you must be thinking that this has become a routine for me to go on break every now and then. Actually, the good news is that we are blessed with a baby boy on July 3rd and I am still in the process of recovering from the C-Section. Thats on the personal front and coming to recipe, it is always a challenge for me to provide a snack for my husband daily when he returns from office. I am always in hunt for something new. Until I came to USA, I only knew about ullipai pakodi (onion pakodi). Only after coming here I got introduced to this new variety with onion called Onion Rings. I was pretty impressed with taste and texture. When I researched for recipe I came to know that it has egg in the recipe and I once again had a challenge to replace it with something else. I successfully made eggless onion rings and here is the recipe:

For the batter:

1/3 cup Self rising flour (you may use all purpose flour)
2 tbsp corn meal (you may also use rice flour, I did not have any in hand, so I used corn meal)
a pinch of pepper powder
salt as per taste
red chilli powder as per taste

For the Coating:
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 Big Onion ( I used yellow onion)
Oil to fry

1. To make the batter mix all the ingredients with just enough water to make a smooth paste. It should not be too thin or pouring consistency. When you dip onion rings in the batter it should be able to make slightly thick coating.

2. Mix bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, oregano and garlic powder together and keep it ready.

3. Slice onion into 1/4" rings.

4. Heat oil in a wide pan.

5. Dip each ring in the batter first, then into the bread crumbs mixture and fry them in the hot oil.

Thats it hot hot crispy onion rings are ready to be served. I served them with some tomato ketch up.