Spicy Lounge

Eggless Dates Cake

2010-04-05T12:41:00.000-04:00

Thats right..its eggless..yet unimaginable moist and soft-easy and a quickie and a big hit with the crowd. I followed the exact recipe from Shilpa's Aayi's recipes but reduced little bit of sugar and my baking took less time than the specified.She says that it would catch up a "cake fever" and indeed it did :-)

Ingredients

18 pitted dates /date fruit
3/4 cup milk
1/2-3/4 cup sugar(I used brown sugar)
1/2 cup of oil
1 cup of maida/all purpose flour
1 tsp of baking soda
choice of nuts(optional)

Pre-cooking

Pre heat oven to 350 degree F

Method

Heat the milk and dates for a few minutes until the dates become soft
Grind this with sugar to a fine paste.
Add oil and mix it well.
Sieve the flour and baking soda and keep aside.
Add the flour little by little to the liquid mixture until everything is blended smoothly.
Add the nuts if needed.
Pour into the cake pan and bake it in oven for 30 minutes.(Time might vary..so be sure to check it in between)
Cake is done,when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and tidy.

Serving suggestions

Serve its as such or frost it with your favorite frosting.

Tips

The cake will be extra moist, so take care when taking it out from your pan.

Add this goes to Bake off event hosted by Bangalore Baker.

Double Ka Meeta/Indian Bread pudding

2010-03-31T15:28:00.004-04:00

If you are a Hyderabadi from India or stayed there like me,I'm damn sure you would have tasted this dish. It is a terrible sin if you haven't done so :P .

I came to know about this dish when I was in Hyderabad for a few months.This also happens to be the city where I started my career in the sinful IT field. Though it was a very short training period we explored the place a lot and needless to say, food played a very important part. If I had been a non-vegetarian may be I would be writing about the famous "Hyderabadi Dum Briyani" but here I am with the popular sweet/dessert of Hyderabad, the city of Pearls.I got this recipe from a friend whom I visited there when I was working but looks like it had to wait until all these years to come alive.

With the richness of sugar syrup and bread, blended together in a thick milk, this dish is a boon for all sweet lovers. The method I have mentioned here is not the authentic version but it is a "quickie" and I see your hands raising even as I mention :) !!!
And here is another information as you drool over the picture,did you know how this dish got its name? In Hyderabad they call bread as "Double Roti", Meeta is sweet in Hindi, this combines it as "Double Ka Meeta".

Ingredients

5 or 6 bread slices
a cup of sugar
a pinch of cardamom
half a litre of milk(whole or half & half)
few tbs of nuts of your choice
2 tbs of ghee or clarified butter
Oil to fry

Pre-cooking

Cut the bread into triangular pieces and leave it to dry in open air(may be for 24 hours approx).

Method

Fry the bread slices in oil(Original recipe calls to fry in ghee; you can try that as well!!)
The bread will not absorb oil as it is dried.
Boil sugar and water in ratio 1:1
Once it starts boiling add cardamom
Pour in your milk and keep in high flame
After it comes to a boil, reduce the flame and let boil.
Keep stirring in between so that it doesnt burn.
After it comes to half of its size, add in the bread slices.
Let them soak in the milk.
At this stage you can either switch off the flame and refrigerate it ;and take out after all the milk is absorbed.
Or if you are in a hurry like me,just keep boiling it, until all the milk is absorbed.
Fry the nuts in ghee and garnish them.

Bread slices soaking in the stove

Serving suggestions

You can serve this warm or cold.

Tips

If the breads are not dry enough, they will absorb more oil and become soggy.

Add this goes to Joyful Eating whilst travelling event hosted by Jagruti. Unfortunately I do not have a picture from Hyderabad (that was when I was still using a Kodak KB10 camera) but I'm posting this one that we took on a weekend drive to Pondichery from Chennai. This golden ball is the very famous Auroville ,a universal city located in pondichery.

Almond Wheat Rolls

2010-03-29T14:48:00.006-04:00

This is actually a sweet from a leftover dessert :) Yes, I made some Badam Kheer/Badam shake for a get together and had some left. Didnt want to have the same dessert again & thus ended up in making a semi badam halwa.The shake is already in liquid form thats why I added wheat flour as it will help in easy solidification and less work ;) But it still ended up beautiful.

You could ideally make it from the scratch, but here I'm going to give the way I made it.

Ingredients

2 cups of almond shake
1/4 cup of wheat flour
2 tbsp of sugar(optional)
a pinch pf cardamon
few tsp of ghee or clarified butter

Pre-cooking

None

Method

Heat a kadai/wok and add the ghee
Then add your almond shake and bring it to a boil.
Then slowly add your wheat flour to it and keep stirring.
Add the sugar if needed.
Once the mixture becomes like halwa it will leave the sides.(You will easily know the consistency as your vessel will become very clean)
Eat as such or roll them into your favorite shapes.

Serving suggestions

You can drizzle with a few drops of ghee.

Tips

Adding more wheat flour will reduce the taste.

Add this goes to my CoL-Leftover Delicacies event

Banana Date Shake

2010-03-26T18:56:00.003-04:00

Dates or Date fruit , cultivated mostly in the middle eastern region is a great source of iron,vitamins and minerals. Most importantly they are very low in calorie, a fact that many of you will appreciate !!

What happens when this date fruit goes in for a date with our favorite fruit of all time, banana?? The result is very sweet,aromatic and energetic. Definitely give it at a try.

Ingredients

a cup of pitted dates/date fruit
one ripen banana
milk approx, 1 cup
few ice cubes (optional)

Pre-cooking

None

Method

Put all the ingredients into a blender/mixie .
Add milk just enough to cover all.
Grind it until its smooth.
Pour into your cups and enjoy this healthy,juicy milkshake.
You can strain the milkshake if needed.(I didnt..I wanted all the richness)

Serving suggestions

You can add few almonds or cashews if you want.

Sending this to Madhuri's Juices,Shakes and Smoothies event at CookCurrynook

Award time

Today's morning surprise came from Madhuri as she passed this lovely blog award and she was kind enough to mail me the same,thanks dear.I love the little angel in the award picture.

I would like to pass this beautiful award to,

Priya of Priya's Easy n Tasty recipes, though a veteran in blogging she keeps encouraging all the budding bloggers with her lovely comments
Deepti of Some salt to taste, her blogname in itself is very inviting

Piper of The crazy Apron, she is a busy bee juggling between so many things, yet you can't say so from all those lovely dishes she makes from scratch

SwapnaSridhar , her blog is a beautiful presentation like her crafts

Nayna at simplyfood, simple holds good for her layout though her foodies are good to rock , and she is a very humble blogger who appreciates you

Gita at Gita's Kitchen, she is one healthy lady,who cooks a variety of dishes low in calorie

Neetz at Kitchen Express,who makes simple easy to make comfort foods that melts your mouth.

Neethu,Kiran and Deepti have been kind enough to pass me the sunshine award, thanks dears !!

I really dont know whom to pass this along because everybody has one sunflower on their blog :)

So I dedicate it to all my blogger friends and you can post this sunflower to shine your blog if you dont have one!!!

Happy Weekend everybody.

Featured as a Budding blogger

2010-03-26T13:19:00.000-04:00

Dear friends,
I am happy to share that I'm featured as a budding blogger in EC's blog which talks about budding bloggers every Wednesday. Do check out my post here.
You could also feature in the series by sending your blog to EC.
Thanks for your continued encouragement and support !!!

Thanks,
Daisyblue

Carrot Pineapple Moist Cake

2010-03-23T14:41:00.001-04:00

I baked this cake along with my friend L when she came over one day last week. Apparently she got this recipe from another friend of hers and it is a tested fine moist beautiful cake !!

This is my second baking post and sending this to the Bake Off event hosted by Bangalore Baker.

Ingredients

3 cups of all purpose flour
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of salt
2 tsp of baking powder
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of white sugar
3 eggs or equiv replacer
1 and a quarter cups of oil
2 tbsp of vanilla extract
1 and half cups of grated carrot
20 oz can of chopped pineapples drained(you can alternate with fresh ones)
1 cup of chopped nuts(your choice of nuts)
14x10 rectangular cake pan

Pre-cooking

Pre heat oven to 350 degree Farenheit.

Method

In a sieve,sift together all the dry ingredients highlighted in orange and keep aside.
In your mixing bowl add all the wet ingredients and blend in medium speed until it becomes a complete smooth batter.
Now slowly blending in one hand, add the sifted dry ingredients little by little until fully incorporated
Blend it in high speed for a few minutes.
Add the pineapples,carrot and nuts.
Mix slowly with a spatula.(Do not blend)
Grease the cake pan and pour the batter and smooth it evenly.
Baking time takes around one hour.

Serving suggestions

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and pineapple slices.
Even add cherry to top it up.

Tips

You can use white sugar instead of brown sugar.
Adjust the cake pan according to the quantity if you are making less.

Also a reminder for the CoL-Leftover Delicacies event hosted in my blog till Apr 16th. The winning recipe, voted by you all , will feature in my blog as a dedication to the winner :)

Keep your entries coming!!!

Horsegram Adai/Horsegram Dosa

2010-03-21T21:26:00.000-04:00

Picture courtesy : wiki

Horsegram or "Kollu" in tamil is a bean variety that helps in reducing weight. When I said J that I have out horsegram in the Adai, he winked and told,"Do you think I am a horse?" No guesses for that. Its implied in the name,yes it is an Horse's food. May be thats why the Horses are so fit and tall huh ?!

Ingredients

one cup of boiled rice
1/4 cup of horsegram
1/4 cup of toor dal
1/4 cup of yellow moong dal
a handful of raw rice
a handful of channa dal
6-7 red chillies
pinch of hing
few curry leaves
1 cup of onions(optional)
1/4 cup of grated coconut (optional)

Pre-cooking

Soak all the dals along with the rice for 8 hours

Method

Grind the dal-rice mix along with hing and chillies to a smooth batter.
With a spoon of oil,saute the onions and curry leaves .
Add this to the batter.
Add the grated coconut and mix well.
Pour into tawa and make like Dosa.

Serving suggestions

Server hot with Aviyal or Jaggery .

Tips

You can make either this either crispy and thin or thick like uttapams.

Sending this to Jihva-Breakfast hosted at Veggie Platter .

Friends, I have made some changes in my comment system to make it more interactive, if you face any problems(I dont hope that you get one ) please comment in my previous post or mail me at db.blooms@gmail.com.

Stuffed Eggplant /Stuffed Brinjal/ Enna kathirikkai/

2010-03-18T15:16:00.001-04:00

Eggplant or Brinjal or Kathirikkai(in Tamil) is one rare species. I have not seen anyone loving the vegetable but I have seen many hating including my husband J until I made the very famous enna kathirikai. And he also gave me a surprise by handpicking them during our grocery shopping.And thats why friends,if you have anyone in your family hating brinjal you should definitely give this a shot :-) !!

Ingredients

4 Indian brinjals
juice extracted from a small lemon sized tamarind
1/2 cup of chopped onions
1/2 cup of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp corainder seeds
1 tbsp channa dal
4-6 dry red chillies(adjust to your taste)
1 tbsp jeera(cumin)
1 tsp pepper corns(optional for extra spice)
2 cloves
an inch cinnamon
1 tsp saunf
1/4 cup grated coconut
mustard seeds
curry leaves
Hing

Pre-cooking

None.

Method

Dry roast all the ingredients highlighted in yellow and grind it to a fine powder(Keep in mind to add the grated coconut at the end)
Slit the brinjals into four equal parts keeping the stem intact.
Apply little oil inside the slits and fill them with the ground powder.
Do not try to fill in everything. Keep the remaining powder aside.
Saute the brinjals in little oil for a few minutes and keep aside (take out when the skin changes colour)
Heat oil in a kadai and temper with the ingredients highlighted in green.
Then add the onions and fry till golden brown.
Add the tomatoes along with the onions and cook until the whole mixture blends well.
Now add in the tamarind extract with 2 cups of water and add salt.
After it comes to a boil, add the brinjals and stir in the remaining ground mixture as well.
Cook covered in medium flame for around 10 minutes.
Once you get a thick consistency and the brinjals are all done,switch off the flame.

Serving suggestions

Serve with hot rice and a dry poriyal

Tips

Using gingelly oil for the entire recipe gives a good flavour.
You can make the gravy little bit watery if you like.

The sisters at Hamaree Rasoi have given the awards, thanks dears !

I would like to pass these on to ,

Piper from the Crazy Apron

Aruna from the Veggie Paradise

Swapna

Siddhi

Event Announcement: CoL-Leftover Delicacies

2010-03-16T16:27:00.003-04:00

I never thought I am going to be hosting my first event so soon. But yes I am and I'm planning to make this a monthly one with all of your support :-)
First let me expand CoL- Chef of the Lounge (Lounge from my blog name ;)..) and thats what it will be called monthly. And each month there will be a common theme to submit the recipe. This event will obviously follow all the usual event rules (Dont worry..I have a detailed rules list below) and in addition I'm going to announce a winner. And what more, the winner will be chosen by you all.
Yes !! I'm going to do this by the traditional voting method .. a little competitive fun..what say folks?
This months theme - Left Over delicacies is an absolute idea that bombed in me when I made "Idli fry" from old idlies. Yes, you make anything with leftovers and post it. Did you turn your leftover old dosa batter into lovely paniyarams or made vada from your adai batter or made your channa masala into a lovely chaat, then you are in for it. This also includes your baking goodies if you are creative with that too ! The only thing that I'm going to exclude are the rice. That looks way too simple isn't it ?
Look below for the detailed rules :

Rules

Make a dish from a left over item in your kitchen- except cooked rice.
This is a vegetarian event - but eggs are an excuse :-)
No limit in the number of entries by a person.
Including the logo and linking back to my post in mandatory.
For archived entries repost and the link back with the event.
Send all your entries to db.blooms@gmail.com with the subject "CoL-LeftoverDelicacies-yourblogname" e.g "CoL-LeftoverDelicacies-spicylounge" will be for my mail.
Include the following details in the email :

   Your Name :
   Blog name/Site name :
   Bloglink/Site link :
   Recipe name :
   Recipe link :
   Recipe photo should be attached :
   Complete recipe : only if you do not have a blog/website

The deadline is Apr 16th, 2010, 12 pm EST.

Any queries just litter my comment form :) Looking forward to hear from you all...

Appam with apple

2010-03-13T19:50:00.004-05:00

For those unknown, "Appam" is not to be confused with Aapam ! Aapam is from Dosa family, while appam is a sweet delicacy made with rice flour. Traditionaly this sweet is made with good ripen bananas and I made a variation with apple.

Ingredients

a cup of wheat flour
1/2 cup of rice flour
a pinch of cardamom
1/4 cup of jaggery/brown sugar(can be varied according to taste)
2 tbsp of grated coconut
1/4 red apples(peeled and finely mashed)

Pre-cooking

None.

Method

Mix all the ingredients together and make a batter.
The consistency should be that of idli batter.
Heat oil in a kadai for deep frying.
Take the batter in a laddle (the one you use for pouring idli may be ) and pour into the oil and fry to golden or deep brown.
You will get a very nice aroma of rice flour..yummm !!

Serving suggestions

Serve Hot..nothing else :)

Tips

You can even use rice flour fully without the wheat flour or vice versa.

I recently read this book "Twenties Girl" by Sophie Kinsella and enjoyed it to the core. Already being a fan of her books , I found this to be another feather in her cap. If you are book lover and enjoy reading light hearted girly stuff, just go for it and have fun !!!

May be you could have an appam in one hand and the book on the other huh ;) ??

3 Minute Chocolate Cake !!!

2010-03-11T16:12:00.003-05:00

I am not kidding on this one..it just takes 3 minutes to bake this cake and with all the pre-baking preparation it will hardly take 5 minutes.It may not be a delicious ,moist chocolate cake but it is sure a tasty treat especially if you are a chocky fan . And the best that you can get in 3 minutes !!!

I stumbled upon the recipe from this site and made it immediately. This also becomes my first cake post in the blog.

Ingredients

4 tbsp cake flour/all purpose flour/maida(original recipe calls for cake flour;I used maida though)
4 tbsp sugar(you can increase this if you wish)
2 tbsp cocoa
1 egg or use the Ener G equiv
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
1 coffee mug (big size)

Pre-cooking

None.

Method

Put all the dry ingredients one by one into the mug and mix well.
Then add all the wet ingredients and mix along with the dry ones.
Ta-da your mixture is ready !
Now keep the mug inside your microwave in HIGH for just 3 minutes.
Cake is ready.Do not miss the the fun part of the cake raising inside the microwave. It is a treat to watch :)

What are you waiting for? Go get your coffee mugs in action and let me know how it turned out :-)

Serving suggestions

Top it with a spoon of whipped cream and some cherries(Man, I wish I had some cherries with me :( )
Goes well with evening tea.

Tips

You can prepare the dough in a mixing bowl and then transfer it to the mug later. That would make the cake even perfect . (I was lazy to do that !! )

Sending this to the chocolate cake event hosted by Divya at Easy Kitchen

Methi Chapathi-a quickie

2010-03-10T14:14:00.005-05:00

This is one of the quickest flavorful chapathi. If you have unexpected guests and you are in a hurry this will help you like a cake and will give a "hmm..." from your guests. All you need is a store bought Kasoori methi packet.

Ingredients

a cup of whole wheat flour(atta)
handful of dry methi leaves(Kasoori Methi)
2 tbsp of oil
salt
1 tsp of chilli powder
1 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of cumin powder

Pre-cooking

None.

Method

Mix all the ingredients together and make a chapathi dough.
The blue highlighted ingredients are optional but they give added flavour and takes bitterness if any.
Make lime sized balls and roll out in the tava.
Take out the chapathi once done.

Serving suggestions

Drizzle the chapathi(once done) with a drop of ghee for additional flavour.

Tips

If you use too much methi leaves,it will turn bitter.

Sending this to EFM-Paratas and Curries at Sris.

Award Time

2010-03-06T22:50:00.002-05:00

Swapna Sridhar has shared the Honest Scrap award to me.Though I wrote down my first post on October, I still kept on updating my personal blog (you can read it if you please :)..) and started becoming a regular food blogger only after February 2010. And now to see that my blog has hit 320+ visitors since Feb 24 makes me happy.In so little time I have known a lot of good cooking people(you all ofcourse ;) ) and learnt new dishes.

Okay end of blah..blah..blah...

Coming to the award,the rules are to list 10 odd things about me. So here they are ,

I love pink color so much that I even have a pinky laptop on which I type :)
I am very afraid of dogs.
I hate to wake up to a dirty kitchen and clean my sink then and there!
I enjoy having my morning tea looking out of the window.
I go crazy for curtains and bedspreads.
I met my husband first at work ;)
My hair is the best thing that I like in me.
I am wearing contact lens since std.10 and very conscious to wear glasses
Fab India is my favorite shop in India.
I made a terrible car crash learning to drive.Luckily I escaped unhurt.

Hmm.. that was a quick ten.Thanks for reading !!

I pass on the award to the following people,
Ashkuku
Gita
Malar Gandhi
Cool Lassi(e)

Happy Weekend everybody !!

Paniyaram

2010-03-04T22:16:00.003-05:00

This is a basic paniyaram which I generally make weekly :). Both (J and myself) of us like paniyaram very much and thats why the weekly routine.I make paniyarams with left over Aapam batter.

Ingredients

Aapam batter(Check the link here for the preparation)
1/2 cup of chopped onions
2 tsp of cumin seeds(jeera)
1 tsp of chopped green chillies or 1 tsp of pepper corns
1 tbsp of chopped curry leaves

Pre-cooking

None.

Method

Mix all the ingredients together to a consistency between idli and dosa batter.
Heat paniyaram pan and pour oil.
Pour into the molds and turn them once done.
Pour little oil again and take out when its cooked on both sides.

Serving suggestions

Goes well with tomato or coconut chutney.

Tips

You can replace the aapam batter with idli batter which is highly fermented(Puzhicha maavu).
Add little soda salt if you need the paniyaram to puff up.

Veg Pulav with curd

2010-03-04T13:33:00.000-05:00

Its not a very difficult rice to make.. yet anyday.anytime..everyone will like this flavoured rice. This time I added a special ingredient "Curd" and made in rice cooker taking the recipe from Vahchef.

Ingredients

1 cup of basmati rice
1 cup veggies of your choice
1/4 of chopped onions
2 green chillies(finely chopped)
3 or 4 pepper corns
1 cup of chopped mint and cilantro
2 tbsp of curd
1 tsp of ginger garlic paste
whole garam masala or garam masala powder
2 tbsp of ghee or oil or a mix of both

Pre-cooking

Soak the rice in the required amount of water for 15 minutes(I used 1:2 ratio)

Method

Heat oil or ghee in a kadai and add the whole garam masala to it.
Once the cumin seeds splutter, add the chopped onions and saute for few minutes.Do not make it brown.
Add ginger garlic paste to this mixture.
After 2 minutes , add the green chillies & pepper corns.
Then add the mint and cilantro and fry till you get the nice aroma.
Now add the curd and mix well.
Finally add the chopped veggies and saute for a few minutes.
Add salt and garam masala if needed.
Finally mix with the rice-water mixture and keep in rice cooker.

Serving suggestions

Serve with any raitha of your choice and some pickle or simply some chips !

Tips

You can also use normal cooker and keep for 2 whistles.

Tamarind Rice/Puzhiyodarai

2010-03-02T13:23:00.003-05:00

I go bonkers hearing the word "Tamirind rice".If we go to any temple and the prasadham happens to be a tasty puzhiyodharai I just go :D:D. This is my first attempt to make this rice from scratch and it came out very well and I'm sure this is going to be a regular dish here afterwards.

This is my mom's recipe and this requires two steps :
Making the puzhikachal ,which is a paste and can be stored for a month without refrigeration.

Making the rice with the puzhiyodarai and few ingredients.

Step 1 - Making of puzhikachal(Spicy tamarind sauce)

Ingredients

250-300 gms of tamarind
4 tbsp of channa dal(kadala paruppu)
4 tbsp of coriander seeds
2 tbsp pepper corns
1 tsp of sesame seeds(I didn't have any..so didn't use)
8 red chillies (depends on your spice level)
a tsp of jaggery
hing
Mustard
urad dal
4 red chillies
broken peanuts
gingelly oil(nallennai)

Pre-cooking

Soak the tamarind in hot water and extract the juice to its fullest and keep aside.

Method

Dry roast all the ingredients highlighted in yellow color and grind them to a fine powder.
Heat liberal amount of oil in the kadai and temper with the the items highlighted in green.
Now add the tamarind extract.
Add enough water with the salt and jaggery.
Bring it to a nice boil. You might get little splattering here and there depending on your kadai.
Now add the ground mixture to this and turn off the heat once the mixture solidifies to a thick paste.
The consistency should be like the tamarind extract you get in the grocery store.
Finally add roasted peanuts to this mixture.
This is the Puzhikachal.
Put it into an airtight container and store it in normal temperature.

Step 2 -Making of the rice

Ingredients

1 cup of boiled raw rice or basmati rice

puzhikachal

1 tsp turmeric powder

curry leaves

mustard seeds

1 tsp of channa dal

few broken cashews(optional)

1 tbsp of vendhayam(fenugreek seeds

Method

When the rice is hot, add a tsp of gingelly oil and turmeric powder, mix well and keep aside to cool.

After cooling, add the required amount of puzhikachal and gently stir it.

Incase your salt is little less do not worry, just add as required.

Temper the ingredients highlighted in green color and add to the rice.

Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and grind to a fine powder.

Add it finally and mix the rice well.

Tasty puzhiyodarai is ready to be eaten.

Serving suggestions

Goes well with chips or mixture or vada.
Best food for picnics or on a busy day.

Tips

Fenugreek seeds is the main ingredient for the Tamarind rice.It is a must.
If you want you can add them while making the puzhikachal itself.
Using of Gingelly oil gives a wonderful flavour. I would not recommend using any other oil :)
Ensure that the rice is not overboiled and is in the right consistency.

Aapam-Coconut Milk

2010-03-01T18:50:00.009-05:00

This is a repost from my first blog post which was long long ago.Rethinking, it is actually not so long ago.Its just that I took a short break soon after my blog start ..crazy me !!!!

The reason for the repost being the combo event by Pari

Coming to the combo-Aapam and Coconut milk,isnt that a lovely one?. Infact I'm going to make that tonight :D

Ingredients

1 cup of boiled rice
1 cup of raw rice
1 cup of grated coconut(Can be replaced by shredded coconut)
1tsp of urad dal
1tsp of fenugreek seeds(vendhayam)
Crystal Salt
Baking soda(Soda uppu)

Pre-cooking

Soak all the ingredients with the grated coconut for nearly 4-5 hours.

Method

Grind the mixture to a nearly smooth batter,little bit coarse is fine.
The consistency should be between idli and dosa batter.
Add the salt and keep it for fermentation.
After the batter is fermented , this could take overnight, add the baking soda and mix thoroughly.
Take the appam pan , grease it with oil using a paper towel or cloth and pour the batter.
Spread it such that it is thin in the edges and thicker in the middle.
Keep in medium flame and cover the lid.
After a few minutes open it once and check if the sides are roasted.
Once the sides are roasted and the center portion is cooked your aapam is ready !

Coconut Milk

Ingredients

1/2 coconut

jaggery or sugar to taste(I used jaggery)

Cardamon

Method

Grate the coconut and add it to the blender/mixie with little water.

Mash it well,take out and extract the juice.

Put in the smashed coconut again into the blender with water and extract the juice again.

Repeat this process 2 times to get the coconut milk.

Take the required amount of jaggery and smash it into fine powder.

Add this to the coconut milk and mix well until all lumps are gone.

If you are using sugar you can add just like adding sugar to any milk.

Finally peel cardamon and add it to the mixture.

Tips

If your batter is thin you will not be able to get proper aapams.

Pesaratu/Moongdal Dosa

2010-02-26T23:57:00.001-05:00

"Pesaratu" is an Andhra delicacy. Somehow in my mind I had always had this idea that this recipe requires quite a lot of time. Me and my cooking ideas huh? But recently tasted this dosa at my friend A's place and came to know that it is the easiest Dosa ever !!

She wanted royalty for the recipe and so this is dedicated to her specially :)

Ingredients

1 cup of green moong dal
1/2 cup of raw rice or boiled rice or a mix of both(I used raw rice)
2 or 3 green chillies
1/2 inch ginger
a small piece of onion
chopped curry leaves

Pre-cooking

Soak the dal & rice in water for 8 hours or in hot water for 4 hours

Method

Grind the dal along with chillies and ginger to a fine paste adding required salt.
Add the curry leaves.
Pour into dosa pan and make the way you make dosa.

Serving suggestions

When I googled for the recipe came to know how to know that in Andhra people have upma inside it and call them "MLA pesartu". I didnt quite like the idea of having upma inside a dosa.May be you can give a shot.
Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Tips

You can vary the combinations according to your taste bud.
Add raw rice for crispness and onion for softness.

Aloo Palak/Spinach potato

2010-02-24T13:29:00.003-05:00

This is a very simple yet rich and healthy dish.I'm trying a variety of dishes with Spinach these days and this is one such dish which I adapted from Vahchef and tweaked a bit to my ease.

Ingredients

1 bunch of Spinach
2 potatoes
1 medium onion
1 medium tomato
1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
4 or 5 green chillies
1 tsp chilli powder(optional for extra spice)
1 tbsp jeera
a pinch of sugar
2 tbsp of whole garam masala or 1 tbsp of powdered garam masala
1/4 cup fresh cream or milk

Pre-cooking

Cut the potatoes into cubes and boil them until soft.But dont change their shape.

Method

Step 1

Add few drops of oil and roast the cumin seeds and green chillies.
Add 2-3 cups of water and bring it to a boil.
Now add the Spinach bunch & cook it till soft.
After cooling grind this mixture to a fine or coarse paste,as you would want your spinach.

Step 2

Fry onions in 2 tbsp of oil.
When translucent, add ginger garlic paste and then the tomatoes.
Fry them together with a pinch of salt and keep on the stove till tomatoes are soft.
Grind this mixture to a fine paste.

Step 3

Take a kadai and 4 tbsp of oil.
Add whole garam masala(If you are using the powder kind, dont add now)
Add the ground mixture from step 2 . Let it cook for a while. You might want to keep it covered as it will splatter all over.
Once they are cooked & oil separates,add the spinach from step 1.
Mix well, add salt,chilli powder and cook in medium flame .
When they are well cooked add the boiled potatoes to mixture & keep for a few minutes.
Add garam masala at this stage.
Finally add 1/4 cup of fresh cream or milk , simmer for one minute and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serving suggestions

This goes well with chappathis or Phulka.

Tips

Adding milk or cream is optional but will give richness to the dish.

Sweet Poha/Sweet aval

2010-02-23T10:25:00.001-05:00

Stumbled upon PJ's "No cooking" event when I was going to make the perfect dish for my morning breakfast.I had some red poha left which I wanted to finish and thats why ended up doing this super easy healthy breakfast.

Since this is a no cooking dish, the measurements can be easily varied according to your taste buds. The measures are what I like in this dish.

Ingredients

one bowl of poha(Thin/thick/red any kind)
3 tbsp of sugar
3 tbsp of grated coconut
a pinch of cardamom
1 tbsp of ghee or softened butter-optional
1 tbsp of nuts(almonds/raisins/cashews)-optional

Pre-cooking

None - This is no cooking dish :)

Method

If the poha is thick,rinse it in water and soak for 15 minutes to make it soft.
If it is thin,just rinsing 2 times will do the trick.(I used thin red poha)
Add ghee,sugar and grated coconut.
Add the pinch of cardamom.
Whisk together and finally garnish with the nuts.

Serving suggestions

You can have this dish with some fruits like apple or banana to make it as a healthy breakfast.
You can have it as a light snack in the evening accompanied with a samosa and tea!

Vadacurry

2010-02-22T10:10:00.004-05:00

This is a typical Tamilnadu dish. This is one of the favorite dishes of J and that inspired me to try this at home. The dish looks very rich and might seem difficult at first sight. But it is very simple and easy one and you can make within half an hour.

Ingredients

1/4 cup of Channa dal(Kadala paruppu)
2 Red chillies
1 finely chopped Onion(big)
1 finely chopped tomato(big)
Ginger garlic paste
1tbsp Coriander seeds
1 tsp Saunf(Fennel seeds)
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
2 tsp Grated coconut
4 red chillies
1/2 tsp Pepper corns(Optional for additional spice)
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
2 tsp of lemon juice

Pre-cooking

Wash and soak the Channa dal overnight(8 hours) in normal water or in hot water for about 4 hours.

Method

Vadacurry = vada + curry.

Vadas cooked in a curry is what vadacurry is all about. Thats why I'm dividing this post into small parts so that it is easy to understand all the steps clearly. This is for my reference too!!

Part 1 - the vadas

Drain the water from dal and grind along with 2 chilli coarsely like you do for vada.
Steam the dal mixture in idli cooker. You can make them as small balls and place in the stand. Shape doesn't matter as long as it is steamed well.
Take the steamed dal and crush them and keep them aside.(Thats why ..dont waste time in making a proper shaped ball :)..)

Part 2 - the grinding

Dry roast the ingredients in yellow color except coconut.
Fry till the chillies turn black.
Now add the grated coconut and switch off the flame.
Mix everything and grind them to a fine paste after cooling ->Let us call this Grind 1
Take a kadai and add little oil.
Add half of the onions and fry them till golden brown.
Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a few minutes.
Add half of the chopped tomatoes to this mixture and fry till tomatoes become soft.
Grind this mixture along with Grind 1 to a smooth paste.

Part 3 - the curry

Heat oil in a kadai and temper with the ingredients highlighted in green color.
Add the remaining half of the onions and then tomatoes and saute them well.
Once the onions turn brown add the ground paste from part 2 and mix them well.
Add 2 cups of water and salt and bring this to a boil.
Once it starts boiling check for the spices and add in the vadas from part 1
Cover the mixture with a lid and keep in low flame for a few minutes.
After sometime you will see the oil oozing out and floating on top with grated coconut.
Switch off the flame and add the lime juice.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serving suggestions

Serve with hot idlis or Dosas.
This is a very heavy dish and ideal for a breakfast or brunch.

Tips

You can make the vadas the previous night and just add them while making the curry in the morning.
Alternatively you can use leftover vadas for making the vadacurry. But it will not be very soft as it is crisp.

Sending this recipe to JFI at Siri's Corner

Blackened Veggie Pasta

2010-02-18T09:49:00.002-05:00

This is a very quick version of pasta and anyone can cook this with ease. This marks the first non-Indian dish in my blog. Not a very good picture for the blog ..still gotta work on this area!!

Ingredients

Long Pasta or spaghetti
Powdered pepper
Salt
Tomatoes - 2
Onions - 1
Store bought Alfredo sauce as shown below or you can make your own sauce

Pre-cooking

None

Method

Take some water and bring it to boil in a stove pot.
Now add the Pasta with little salt.
In the meanwhile ,cut the onions and tomatoes and saute them with little oil.
The pasta should be boiling now and check if it is ready by taking a sample.(The pasta is done when it sticks in any cupboard when you throw it..a bit fun testing ;) )
Now comes the easy part. Add the pasta,tomato & onions ,sauce and pepper and whisk them.
Viola, your blackened pasta is ready to serve.

Serving suggestions

You can also add carrots and beans or any other veggies that you would like in your Pasta.

Tips

Serve the pasta hot otherwise the taste will be lost.
Reheating in microwave will not be a tasty as the fresh.

And this is entry to the Pasta Party event @ Panch Pakwan and thus marking my first event participation.

Bisibelabath

2010-02-16T21:30:00.002-05:00

Have been meaning to write this post for such a long time. Pulled up my fingers to type them today finally!!

Ingredients

2 cups of Raw rice
1 cup of veggies(mix of carrots,beans,peas,potato)
1/2 cup of Toor dal
1 Onion
4 or 5 small onions
1 big Tomato
1 tsp of Jaggery or sugar
lemon sized ball of Tamarind
1 Tsp of Turmeric powder
Few strands of fresh Coriander leaves
1 tsp of Saunf
1 tbspn of Corainder seeds
1 tbspn of Channa dal
2 tsp of Grated coconut
5 or 6 Red Chillis
1 tsp of pepper corns
Mustard
Curry leaves
asafoetida or Hing

Pre-cooking

Soak the tamarind in hot water and extract the juice. Alternately you can use tamarind paste.

Method

Dry roast all the ingredients highlighted in yellow color and grind them to a powder.
Pressure cook dal along with tomato and turmeric powder. Dal should be cooked fully and must be mashed completely.
Take the pressure cooker and add oil.
Put the ingredients highlighted in green for tempering.
After mustard seeds splutter add the onions and saute them,followed by the veggies.
After sauting for few minutes add the ground powder and mix well.
Then add the tamarind extract along with some water.
Add jaggery and salt to taste.
Now pour in the mashed dal and check for spices.
Atlast add the rice and close the pressure cooker for nearly 5 to 6 whistles.
Measure the amount of water you add to the rice.Take care to keep the rice:water ratio in 1:2.5 ratio.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serving suggestions

Add a few spoons of ghee after the rice is done.
This goes well with chips or pappad.

Tips

Bisibelabath is well done when the rice is mashed well with all the ingredients. So when in doubt with the water alway add more. Do not add less.
To get a good consistency of mashed dal, pre-soak the dal for half an hour before cooking it.

Almond Candy

2010-02-16T09:15:00.000-05:00

Dont give me looks hearing the title.This is just the basic badam halwa rolled in the shape of candy to feast my eyes :)

We were travelling to a friends place in St. Louis & I wanted to prepare some sweets to take to their home and thus ending up preparing the badam halwa.

Ingredients

Whole badam(almonds) - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Milk - a few tablespoons
Ghee(melted butter) - as per your taste
Cardomon Powder - a pinch (optional)

Pre-cooking

Soak the almonds(badam) in normal water overnight or hot water for minimum of one hour.
Peel the skin after that and keep them ready.

Method

Grind the almonds with sugar with as little milk as possible to a fine paste.(Use milk just to cover the almonds)
Take a kadai and keep in medium flame .Add few drops of ghee and pour in the grounded paste.
Keep stirring the mixture(this might take nearly 10-15 minutes). Take care as the mixture will spill all over.
After a few minutes the texture will start to change and you will notice the badam will leave the sides.
This stage add few more table spoons of ghee and the cardoman powder and keep stirring for 5 more minutes.
Take off the flame to have your badam halwa.

Serving suggestions

You can take the halwa and eat them directly with a spoon.
You can pour them into greased plate and cut them into desired shape after it cools down.

Tips

Peeling of badams will be easier when they are very tender.
Always keep the flame in medium or lower than that. Increasing the heat will burn the badam.

Spinach Poori

2009-11-18T11:36:00.001-05:00

Spinach Poori is a lovely variation to the normal Pooris we make. The green colour enhances the visual treat and the Spinach makes a healthy dish.

Ingredients

Wheat/Atta - 1 cup
Oil- 1tsp
Salt

To Grind

Chopped Spinach - 1 bunch
Green chillies - 2
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1 tsp

Method

Grind all the ingredients in to Grind to form a nice paste. Use very little water as possible.
Add the atta, the spinach paste and salt.
Make a firm dough and coat with the little oil.
Let it rest for 10 min.
Spread the Dough as you normally do for pooris and deep fry them.