# Tasty Recipes

Mint pulao / Pudina rice

2011-11-25T11:00:00.001+08:00

Rice can be cooked in so so many different ways, and pulav is something that's easy to make, and really nice as a one pot meal for lunch/ dinner. I mostly prefer cooking rice separately and then mixing it with masala, so it has nice flavour of basmati rice as well as masala. I have made this mint pilaf ample of times, and this one is always loved by all.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice 1 cup
2 tbsp cashew nuts,broken
3-4 cloves
1/2" cinnamon
2-3 green cardamom
1 bay leaf
Onion,1 big,finely sliced
Fresh/ frozen peas 1/3 cup
2 tsp lemon juice
2 potatoes, boiled or 1/2 cup soya nuggets,soaked in hot water
2 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Masala:
1 bunch (1 cup) fresh mint leaves
3 tbsp fresh grated coconut
1/2" ginger piece
6-7 green chillies
1 tsp oil

Method:

Wash and soak the rice in water for 10-15 mins(soaking enhances the aroma of basmati rice) and cook it until done.
Spread the rice over a plate, adding a tsp of ghee all over it ,it will keep the rice granules separate.Let it cool .
Cut potatoes in small cubes(/ squeeeze excess water out of soya nuggets, and set aside).
Clean and wash the mint leaves and let them drain excess water.

Heat a tsp of oil, add mint leaves and saute it for about a minute until they wilt.Add green chillies,ginger and grated coconut and cook it a bit.
Let it cool and then grind it into a paste. Add half of the lemon juice. Adding lemon juice will help retain bright green color of mint.

Heat ghee in a thick bottom pan. Add cloves,cardamom,cinnamon and bay leaf, then add chopped cashews and fry until light brown in color.
Add sliced onions and fry until they turn a bit dark brown in color and then add peas to it and fry well.
Add potatoes/ soya nuggets now and let them roast a bit(brown patches on potatoes/ soya nuggets)
Add ground paste and fry well until the raw smell goes away.This takes a couple of minutes.
Lastly add cooked and cooled rice,salt to taste and lemon juice and mix carefully until everything is mixed well.
Serve hot with raitha.

Tips:

Can replace potatoes/ soya nuggets with paneer cubes or baby potatoes instead.
I have also tried it with dry dissected coconut too, and i came out equally well.

Navratri series: Singhara Pakodi's

2011-10-02T14:27:00.002+08:00

This is one of the delicious deep fried delicacious for navratri, apart from Sabodana Vada's and others. Its very simple , and a real tasty treat .Singhara or Water Chestnut, are eaten raw, or after boiling in most parts of India, and its flour is used for making food during fasting time. For fasting we do not used normal salt , but use what we call Sendha namak, also known as Rock salt. Looking around for info about rock salt, i came across this informative article. Basically , rock salt crystals are larger, less refined, and more discolored than purified ‘table salt’ and does not contain additives such as iodine or anti-caking agents commonly found in table salt.

Ingredients :

Singhara flour(atta) 1 cup
Potato 3 medium, boiled
Green chilly 2 Finely chopped
Cumin powder (Jeera powder) 1/2 tsp(optional)
Sendha namak ( rock salt) to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Boil the potatoes and peel the skin, mash the pottoes well.
In a large bowl mix well mashed potatoes, Sindhara flour, chopped green chillies , roasted jeera and salt (Sendha namak for fasting).
Adding little water, make a thick batter.
Heat oil/ghee in a deep pan for deep frying the pakodas.
When the oil is ready , deep fry the pakodas on medium flame. Fry until they turn golden brown in color.
Remove pakora's in kitchen napkin to remove excess oil.
Serve with plain yogurt or chopped tomatoes mixed with little salt.

Tips:

If not fasting, you can sprinkle a little black salt on top of the pakodas.
Kattu pakora's are also made in exactly same way.
Can check for other fasting recipes, which i poated earlier.
1) Sabodana Khichiri
2) Sabodana vada
3) Dry fruit Kheer

Navratri fasting series: Dry fruit kheer

2011-09-14T09:38:00.000+08:00

Soon Navratri is coming, which is a festival of worship, dance, music and of course - food. ...and like most years, we ( me n hubby) are planning to do the 9 days Navratri vrat, i.e, fasting. The fasting food is all so yummy, that it itself is a motivation to do fast . ;) During Navratri fast , we can eat , what we call Faalhari Food only, i.e, fruit based one. So what all comes in faalhari, all fruits, dry fruits, potato, tomato and flour made out of fruits, like singhara (water chestnut), also known as kuttu ka atta, phaphad etc. Soon i shall be posting other upvas recipes too, so can know what all we can eat. :) . This year navratri is from 28th Sep to 6th Oct 2011.

Firstly ,starting with a dessert, here's is dry fruit mix kheer,

Ingredients:

Milk 1 L

Dry fruits:
Makhana cut in halves, 2 cups
Almonds 15 – 20, slivered
Cashew nuts 15 – 20, broken in small pieces
Chironji / Chiraunji 2 tbsp
Raisins 10-12
Pistachios, 10-12, slivered

Cardamom powder 1 tsp
Saffron threads a few
Sugar 3 tbsp (or as per taste)

Method:

Soak saffron threads in 2 tbsp of warm milk.
Put 1 tsp ghee in a heavy bottomed pan, and stir fry all the dry fruits.
In the same pan heat milk. When it comes to a boil, add all the dryfruit mix.
Let it cook on low heat, stirring occasionally.
When the milk thickens and reduces to almost half add sugar, saffron threads and cardamom powder.
Keep stirring till the sugar is mixed completely. Let it cook for another 3 – 4 minutes.
Serve hot or chilled.

Tips:

Makhana ,are referred to as Popped / puffed Lotus Seeds/ fox nut.
Chironji is also referred to as Chiroli.
Can reduce milk by 250ml, and omit sugar and instead can add ¼ cup condensed milk.
Instead of frying, also can just soak raisins beforehand or also can just add all dryfruits in boiling milk.

Yummy Egg rolls

2011-07-15T15:14:00.001+08:00

After so much sweet, chocolates and baking, and getting into these sinful indulgences, i thought of posting these yummy egg rolls, which are indeed more tantalizing to my taste buds. And whose recipe was in my drafts for so so long, just taking its snap was an issue. Whenever I make egg rolls, I just go on making, and they just go on vanishing. And as they are more delicious when eaten piping hot, I couldn't endure my share too to get cold. :-)

Being vegetarians we never had egg at home as kids. The first time i tried it was after college with my friend at a road side stall in a perfect rainy day. And it was love at first bite.. I did had it many times after that. Now that I am not in india, I miss those road side stalls so so much.

Going by the book, egg roll is referred to a wrap, which is dipped in egg and then deep fried, a variant of spring roll. But the one I make is typical of Kolkata and originates from there itself. The egg roll in Kolkata is similar to Frankie of Mumbai. A "Mexican egg roll", also referred to as burrito, is an egg roll wrap filled with beans, cheese, and, optionally, meat, as well as various peppers and spices. And so are its versions in other parts of the world.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour(Maida) 1 cup

Eggs 3
Green chili 2 or more chopped
Coriander 1 tbsp chopped

Onion 1 medium, chopped finely
Tomato 1 small finely chopped
Capsicum abt 1/2 chopped
Lettuce or cabbage shredded

Oil for shallow frying
Salt to taste
Tomato sauce and green or red chilli sauce

Method:

Add salt to taste to the flour and knead the flour well with required water.
Take a small ping pong sized ball and roll it as thin as possible to about 6 inch diameter chapati's. It makes about 6-7.
Cook on a hot driddle , lightly from both sides( no need to puff them up over direct the flame). Set aside.

Beat the eggs; add salt to taste, chopped chillies and coriander.
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add about half of 1 beaten egg to it, spread it slightly so as to have almost the same diameter as that of chapati.
Place one thin chapati over the half fried omelet and slightly rotate it,pressing from centre to out, so as both the diameters are same, and egg is evenly spread and sticks over whole chapati.
Allow it to cook for about two more minutes.
Slowly with the help of spatula turn it around and cook the other side for a minute and take it out.

Place the chapati on a flat surface with the egg side up.
Apply sauces as per your taste on the egg side.
Add chopped onions, capsicum, lettuce and tomatoes at the centre of the chapati to make the filling.

Roll the chapati tight and cover it with an aluminum foil or kitchen paper.
Serve piping hot.

Tips & Notes:

I do use a non stick pan, so only the first roll need oil, rest can be cooked oil free.
The filling can be varied , as per availablity, I do add Corn, olives, cucumbers too.
Instead of sauces I do prefer home made green coriander chutney.
To make healthier version, I mixed flour with whole grain wheat aata in 1:1 ratio..

Choco Chip Cookies

2011-07-13T15:57:00.006+08:00

After baking the Indian eggless cookies, i.e, Nankhatai's, here comes my next attempt at baking cookies, and that too on demand by kids, 'Choco Chip Cookies'. The cookies came out perfect, both taste and look wise, though with a bit of hiccups. As I am new at baking and also am using convection microwave oven for baking , the setting and all while baking needed to be varied accordingly.

The recipe makes about 40; 3 inch cookies. I did made half batch only, as this was my first attempt at baking cookies, so made 20 only. Also I did baked it in 3 small batches, out of which one batch got overcooked, and thus got burned at the bottom :(

The recipe is very easy and it takes very little time to bake these cookies. Its one of the easiest, most delicious and a basic choco chip cookie recipe. It uses a combination of white and brown sugars, producing a rich and chewy cookies with caramalised edges.

Ingredients:

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter @ room temperature
3/4 cup (160 grams) firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
2 eggs large
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (270 grams) semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degree C (375 degree F). In a bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add both the white and brown sugars and beat. Then beat in eggs, slowly one at a time. Add Vanilla extract and mix. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt and baking soda and then add this to the egg mixture and beat well. You can use a hand mixer or a kitchen aid as the dough tends to be a bit stiff at this stage. Lastly fold in choco chips and make sure they are evenly dispersed so we have enough chocolate in each cookie. The dough is now ready.

Now before baking the dough needs to be a bit stiff, if you find the dough a bit soft, refrigerate until firm (upto 2 hours) Drop dough on a lined baking sheet by 2 rounded tablespoon about 2 inches apart . The chocolate chip cookies need to be this far apart because the dough spreads during cooking. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or untill golden brown on edges.At this stage the cookie may look a bit uncooked but they will finish cooking through out of the oven.

As for my oven i did baked it in cookie mode for 10 minutes. It has a auto preheat and after preheating cookie balls in a parchement paper along with the tray needs to be placed inside the oven. Finally cool on a wire rack completely before storing as the cookies are very soft when hot.

Tips:

If you are using kitchen aid, better use the butter still in quite firm state, though not cold, and thereby aviding the need to refrigerate it. Just take it out from fridge and microwave it for 10- 15 sec.
You can use a icecream scoop for dropping in the small balls of dough. Its very convinient and mess free.
You can also add about 1 cup (100 grams) walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped after adding chocolate chips.
Also, you can make balls and freeze them for future. Just bake the frozen balls directly, adjusting the time a little more.

Chocolate banana cake

2011-06-28T16:39:00.004+08:00

Now after baking something tried and tested (nankhatai's), as my confidence grew; i thought of baking a cake. While searching for the recipe; i was looking for something healthy, with easy to find ingredients and minimal effort. And then i got this one . The recipe looked very easy and all the ingredients i did had at home. This one is a moist, sweet and healthy banana cake, and really very chocolatey one too.

The recipe uses a simple concept of 2 bowls, one for wet ingredients and the other for dry ones. The two are then mixed together and you are done. The first time i tried, it did tasted yum, and was soft too, but didn't got the sponge. Then afterwards i realised that my Baking powder had just expired, and had read somewhere that expired BP has this effect on cakes... hehe. So for trying again, I thought of some ocassion, and then there was father's day last weekend, so i did tried it again, and this time it came out just perfect.

All the ingredients are just the same as from source,i.e, joyofbaking, its just that it was a big cake, and so i just exactly halved every ingredient for my smaller version. As we did cut the cake in the evening, and everyone was ready to eat..snaps didn't came out so nice.. But cake really tasted very yummy and was really moist. Just perfect. The best banana cake recipe.

Ingredients:

DRY:
Granulated white sugar 2 cups (400 grams)
All purpose flour 1 3/4 cups (245 grams)
Unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 cup(75 grams)
Baking powder 1/2 teaspoons
Baking Soda 1 1/2 teaspoons
Salt 1/2 teaspoon

WET:
Eggs 2 large
Ripe bananas 1 cup mashed(about 2 medium ones)
Warm water 1 cup (240 ml)
Milk 1/2 cup (120 ml)
Oil 1/2 cup (120 ml) (any flavorless oil)
Pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 teaspoons

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Place the rack in the centre of the oven.
In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients, and sieve it 2 -3 times with a sieve.
In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients and mix thouroughly.
Pour the wet mix over the dry one slowly and mix nicely.
The batter is ready; it should be quite thin in consistency, easy pouring one.
Pour the batter in a pre greased baking pan, and bake it for abt 35-40 minutes.
Do check with a skewer , if inserted in centre comes out clean , its done.
Remove it from the oven and let it cool before taking it out from the pan.

This one was my first attempt, taste was yum, but as you can see no sponge was there,due to the baking soda. You can see my oven too in the backdrop.

Tips:

Never open the oven in between, atleast in the starting 25-30 minutes.

Nankhatai, Indian eggless cookie

2011-06-24T14:20:00.001+08:00

I wanted to try baking for a long long time and finally ventured into it, when my new Sharp Convection oven finally came into my life (read house). The first thing that i tried baking were the traditional nankhatai's, the one's as seen in my chilhood, my mom and my elder sis baking, and eventually its aroma filling the whole house. And voila, my first attempt at baking was succesful. The recipe is indeed very simple and easy. My mom used to make a small cross in between and then press a cubed red cherry nut, which i didn't had,so i just pressed some choco chip instead, giving it a more cookie like look...

For others who do not know about Nankhatai, can say its a eggless indian biscuit.

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter –1/2 cup,at room temperature
Powdered Sugar 1/2 cup
All Purpose Flour (Maida) 1 cup
Nutmeg Powder 1/4 tsp
Cardamom Powder 1/4 tsp
Baking Powder 1/4 tsp
Salt 1/8 tsp

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degress F.
Combine softened butter and sugar slowly until mixture is light and creamy.
Then add Nutmeg Powder and Cardamom Powder and mix well.
In a separate bowl, sift all purpose flour with baking powder and salt and then slowly
combine flour mixture (little at a time) with butter mixture to form a soft dough.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and leave for 15-20 minutes.
Knead dough once again and divide into 12 portions of the size of tennis ball and roll without any cracks.
Press lightly between the palms, can put a small cross in the centre and then press choco chips, or cherry or chopped almonds and pistachios
Put Nan khatai on a lightly greased cookie sheet leaving enough space between dough balls and
bake on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes.
Remove from oven and let it cool completely before storing in an air tight container at room temperature.

Tips:
Nankhatai is meant to be white, so do not let it get brown and adjust the time of baking.
If you don't have unsalted butter,you can used any salted one like amul butter, and omit addition of salt.
You can also omit the addition of salt altogether.

Garlic Butter Naan - Simply delicious

2010-03-06T00:23:00.001+08:00

NAAN' , a leavened Indian flatbread, is made with yeast and all purpose flour with/without flavorings and is made in tandoor. It bears a resemblance to pita, but is softer in texture. In Persia the word 'Naan' literally means "Bread".

Though i wanted to post this recipe for a long time, but as i could never click the step by step pictures, so couldn't post it till now. This time too ; its not all perfect but still better. First time before making these delicious garlic naan's ,I browsed the net a lot for all the possible ways of cooking them; in tandoor, oven or stove top. Tandoor one is obviously the best and the correct way, but that couldn't be done at home. And out of the other two, i felt that stove top one gave better results, more softer and more tandoor like cooked. So i made these naan over the stove and believe me, they come out perfect everytime.

I sticked to yeast as I simply love the dough getting double in volume and the aroma of yeast that fills the whole house. Also i wanted to make it as perfect as possible, we don't make them often at home , so whenever we make it should be a treat, all perfect... isin't it.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour 3 cups
Active dry yeast 1 tsp
Warm water 2/3 cup
Sugar 1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves(cilantro)
1/2 tsp Kalonji (onion seeds)
Salt to taste

Garlic-butter topping:
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp minced garlic

Method:

Take warm water; mix yeast, salt and sugar in it until the yeast has dissolved. Set aside for 10mins till the yeast gets activated(forms a froth).
Sift the flour and add coriander leaves , mix well.
Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture.
Mix well to make a soft dough. Add more warm water if required.
Knead for 3-4mins. Cover with a cloth or plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place for about 2 to 3 hrs till the dough doubles in volume.

Now punch the dough again for 2- 3 more minutes .
Make balls from the dough and roll them. Roll them into a oblong with a rolling pin dusting with flour.
Sprinkle kalonji over it, press a bit.(optional)

Cooking over stove top:

Heat the pan on high.
Apply a little water on one side of the naan (uncooked naan only) .
Put the naan on the tava(avoid non stick pan), with the wet side down. Press it slighly with a cloth or a napkin, so as to stick it on the pan.
Within seconds , you can see small bubbles, turn the pan upside down, so as the naan is over the direct fire.
Cook it rotating the pan a bit , so as to cook the naan uniformally all over.
Check for brown spots. The naan starts to fall down by its own when cooked.
Turn the pan again and apply garlic butter mixture over the charred cooked side.
Serve hot with any curry of your choice.

Tips:

Do not make them too thick as they puff up when baked.
For oblong shape, roll it circular and while putting on the hot griddle pull it from one side to get the shape.
If using oven, set to broiler and place the Naan on a baking sheet, top the naan with some butter and put it inside the broiler. Check for dark spots, turn and repeat the procedure.

Moong Daal Halwa

2009-10-21T15:53:00.008+08:00

Moong ki dal ka seera or halwa is a diwali special sweet, as its made as a bhog for prayers of divas on the eve of Deepawali in our marwari customs. This authentic Rajasthani recipe is very popular in winter in wedding dinners too. This was the first time i made it, as till now i never ever dared to make this labour intensive and high in calories sweet. I remember my mom making it, and her hands, red, after stirring it continously for so long (she used to make the delicious halwa in huge quantity, as we as kids used to love it, and needn't to be calorie consicious then)..

Every year i used to make the easy one, Aate ka halwa, in its place, but this year somehow decided to give it a try, though in a very small quantity. And believe me, all the effort it takes is worth it. It came out really delicious, and as i made it in less quantity, so it wasn't so much work too.. :)

Warning: This recipe needs a high amount of ghee and therefore ,should not be eaten in large amount.

Ingredients:

1 cup Dhuli Moong Daal (split yellow lentils without skin)
1 cup ghee (clarified butter)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
3 pods green cardamom split
1/2 tsp Saffron, soaked in a little milk
1/2 cup khoya (/mava)
1/2 cup chopped mixed dried fruits

Method:

Wash the moong daal and soak it in plenty of water overnight.(or atleast 3-4 hours)
Grind the daal into a coarse paste without adding any water while grinding.
Prepare a sugar syrup of 1 thread consistency and add saffron strands and cardamom pods to the syrup. Cover and set aside.
Now, warm the ghee in a heavy-bottomed (can use non-stick) pan on a medium flame.
Add the moong daal paste to this ghee and stir to mix. Cook the moong daal, stirring frequently (almost continously) on a medium flame to avoid sticking at the bottom till it begins to turn golden brown and the aroma eludes.
This step takes time and energy, and one needs to be patient..;)
Now add the khoya (/mava) and mix well. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Finally add the sugar syrup (cardamom pods removed) and mix thoroughly. It gets softer after this.
Cook on a medium flame for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.
Lastly add the dried fruits and switch it off.
Garnish with chopped nuts and serve.

Tips:

If halwa is dry , as per ur taste, can add more water while making sugar syrup.
At last, if you feel its still a bit dry, can add milk to it too to get the desired consistency.
If initially the ghee is too hot, lumps may get formed, don't worry keep stirring and break the lumps.
In this recipe sugar is on a bit lesser side, can add more if u have a sweet tooth.
Since i didn't had the khoya i added 3-4 pieces of Haldiram's kesari peda(grated) into it. It gave a nice taste as well as color to it. But yep sugar needs to be adjusted accordingly..
It takes a long time and lot of patience to saute the dal and prepare this halwa, so don't rush up.
You can make a larger quantity of this recipe and store it refrigerated for several weeks. Just add a little milk to the halwa before reheating it.

*********
These are few other Diwali Farsans ,that i did made.. Chiwda, Mathri's, Nimki(or salted sakarparee), Dahi wade, Besan ke ladoo, Moong daal Halwa and lastly Haldiram's Kesari peda's..(ofcourse i can't make something so perfect)

Wishing all my readers a very Happy and prosperous Diwali ...

*******************************

Sending this to Diwali Dhamaka at Purva's Daawat.

Yogurt Salad

2009-10-13T16:11:00.001+08:00

For a healthy balanced diet we do need to incorporate some salad varieties in our diet. Having same salad daily too won't help us much. And as, nowadays we do eat a lot of spicy as well as junk food, so a great way to cool our stomach is a Yogurt based salad, and that too with a combination of cucumbers, is the best to cool ourselves. This salad goes perfectly with our indian food. We can say its a sort of Tzatziki , a Greek starter dish, which basically contains cucumber with yogurt, olive and herb dressing as its main ingredients...It itself is quite filling, so can be made for light meals too.

Ingredients:

Fresh Yogurt 1/2 cup
Tomato 1
Onions diced 1
Cucumber, deseeded 1
Fresh corn kernels 1/3 cup
Lettuce(/Cubed cabbage leaves)
Capsicum 1 small
Mixed herbs
Feta cheese(/ crumbled paneer) 1 tbsp
lemon juice 1 tsp
Extra Virgin olive oil 1 tbsp
Crushed fresh pepper 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

Firstly make hung curd. Simply put the curd in a muslin cloth and hang it at some convinient location, so as all the water drips, needs to be done for atleast about 15-20 minutes.
Next chop the tomato into small cubes, remove all the seeds and the juice .
Deseed cucumber with the help of spoon and chop it too into small cubes.
Chop capsicum into small pieces.
Also shred 3-4 lettuce leaves( or can make big squares of cabbage leaves instead).
Take fresh corn and cut corn kernels out of it with a knief( better don't use canned ones, it makes a huge difference in taste)
Now, mix all the other salad dressing ingredients(except salt), and toss gently.
Chill in refrigerator till the time of serving.
Before serving add salt to taste.

Tips:

DO NOT add salt beforehand , as the whole salad gets watery, and looses its texture.
Do remove all the water from tomato , as well as washed lettuce leaves(better dry it with paper towel, as it may contain lots of water after washing)
Best served chilled.

Sending this to
EC of simple indian Food for WYF: Light meals Event.
Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes for No Croutons required.

Pickled onions

2009-10-07T15:24:00.000+08:00

Whenever i used to go to resturants , was always fascinated by these red small cute onions, and liked them a lot. By tasting it i could only understand that they are vinegar soaked, but how??, Can i do it at home?? howa'z the color so bright red?? So just browsed , and got to know that as simple they look, they are as simple to make, and can be stored for later use too...

The seasonings can also be varied as per your taste, so enjoy these pickled onions...

Ingredients:

Shallots 10 -15 in number
Sugar 2 tsp
Whole black pepper 10-12
Bay leaves 2-3
Cinnamon 1 piece
White rice vinegar 1/2 cup
Beetroot, small cubes 3-4
Salt to taste

Method:

Simply peel the small onions, set aside.
In a small non reactive bowl add vinegar, sugar, whole black peppers, bay leaves, cinnamom and bring it to a boil.
Add small onions and salt to taste.
Add canned cubed beetroot, and let it simmer for some time(4-5 minutes).( Your whole house would be filled with the aroma of vinegar...)
Switch off the gas and allow it to cool.
Have it as side dish with your daily menu.

Tips:

You can store it it fridge for upto a month in sirtight jar
If beetroot is not there , you will get a slight pink color, and not much difference in taste. For red color , you can add etable red color to it.
These vinegar soaked pickled onions can also be made with thinly sliced onions rings in a similar fashion.
Can be done with red wine vinegar too..
Also read somewhere , you can also make pickled red beet egg , by replacing onions with hard boiled eggs. I shall also try it out soon..

Aloo tikki chaat..

2009-10-02T17:18:00.000+08:00

Few weeks back invited some of my friends for dinner, so thought of making chat in starters, and guess what, they came out perfect (though they turned out to be too filling). For making tikki chat, if you think of making everything from scratch, than indeed we feel it's a long long process, but as i already had my tamarind as well as green chutney ready in my fridge, and one of the dish in the main course as chole itself, so it was a lot easier... :). Even though, if it needs to be done at one go, still its worth the effort.

Ingredients:

For Aloo Tikki:

Potatoes 5 large
Bread Slices 2 -3
Garam Masala pwd ½ tsp
Roasted Jeera/Cumin Pwd 1 tsp
Coriander Powder ½ tsp
Corn Flour 1 tbsp+
Oil, for shallow frying
Salt to taste

For Date and Tamarind Chutney:

8 10 deseeded dates
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
1/4 cup jaggery
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste

Chole
Green chutney

Curd, beaten till smooth
Cumin powder
1 tbsp sugar
Finely chopped Onions
Fine sev to garnish
Red chilli powder
Chopped coriander leaves.

Method:

1. Prepare green coriander chutney

2. Prepare tamarind chutney.(better make both chutney's one day in advance)

Bring tamarind pulp to a boil. Add date paste and jaggery.
Then add red chilli powder , cumin powder and salt to taste. Adjust the spices and consistency, switch off the gas and let it cool. This can be stored in the air tight jar in the fridge for later use.

Alternatively, grind all the ingredients, along with little water, to make a thick chutney.

3. Make spicy Chole.

4. Yogurt Filling:

Beat the curd till its smooth without any lumps(add a bit water ,if too thick). Now mix in roasted cumin powder, sugar and salt to taste.

5. Aloo Tikki:

Boil potato till tender, peel and mash well(or better grate them for even consistency).
Remove the edges of bread slices. Dip the slices in water and squeeze them between your palms to remove the water. Crumble them with hands and add to the mashed potatoes. Also, bread crumbs can be directly added to mashed potatoes.
Mix in all the spices ; garam masala, roasted cumin powder, coriander powder, salt to taste and corn flour and mix well. Adjust the corn flour as required, it helps in binding and hence proper shape of tikki's.
Take a small lump and make a small ball. Press it down to shape it into round shape (about 1 cm thick ) to amke a tikki.
Heat tawa/griddle , put about 1 tsp oil, and shallow fry all the tikki's on medium to low heat on both the sides till they turn golden brown in color.
Repeat with all the tikkies and place them in a paper napkin to remove excess oil.

Assemble and Serve:

Place 2-3 hot Aloo Tikkies on serving plate.
Pour about 2 ladles full of Chole. Then add about 2 tablespoons of spiced yogurt.Then drizzle about a spoon each of Sweet Date-Tamarind Chutney and Green Chutney.
Finally garnish with chopped onion, sev and chopped coriander leaves.
Sprinkle a bit of red chilli powder and cumin power on top of it and serve immediately.

Tips:

Instead of bread slices can add one cup Bread Crumbs too
For oil consicious people, can also bake the tikkies till they turn gold and crisp on both the sides

Kheer, Rice Pudding, Indian sweet

2009-09-14T16:31:00.004+08:00

Its been quite some time that i posted any recipe, and all is due to the fact that i don't get enough time to blog. I do have lots of snaps of recipes that i do make, but couldn't blog about them. So now when i had time , though of posting some sweet recipe.

Recently have been regularly watching ,"Yeah rista kya kahlata hain", in Star plus; and seeing Akshara making kheer for more then 2 episodes.. ;), though of making myself too. And then on the eve of rakhi got the occassion to make this. So here it comes, with the measurements... :) "100 gram chawal aur 150 gram shakkar, char logon ke liye.."he he....

But firstly something about kheer.., It's a popular Indian sweet, made for all happy ocassions. It is also called as ‘payash, payasa, payasam' in other Indian languages.

Kheer or payasam generally has a consistency of porridge. You can keep it plain or make it as rich as you like with the addition of nuts like cashews, pistachio, almonds etc. Most commonly made kheer is Rice Kheer or the Vermicelli kheer which is also called sevai or semiya payasam.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup rice
4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup sugar (adjust to taste)
A pinch of saffron(soaked in little hot milk)
2-3 crushed cardamom
2 tbsp sliced almonds
1 tbsp sliced pistachios
1 tbsp raisins (optional)
1 tsp ghee

Method:

Wash rice, drain and set aside.
Better use a non-stick frying pan to make kheer.
Melt the ghee(/butter) in a frying pan on medium heat, add rice and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Then add milk and boil till rice is fully cooked and the milk is reduced to half ,on a medium heat, stirring often to ensure the milk does not burn in the bottom of the pan.
Finally add the sugar, saffron, cardamom, mixed nuts(almonds, pistachios) and let it simmer for a few more minutes.
Turn off the heat.
As kheer cools off it will become thicker in texture.
Kheer can be served chilled or warm.

Tips:

Rice can be replaced with Vermicelli.
If you will be serving chilled add 1 teaspoon of extra sugar
Instead of cardamom you can add your favorite essence, rose or almond or vanilla essence if you wish
Jaggery(brown sugar) can be added as a sweetener depending on personal choice.

CFK:healthy lunch boxes, Roundup

2009-08-11T18:00:00.001+08:00

After a long time i am blogging, so firstly i would like to say sorry, for the late roundup and my slow responses to all your mails. Actually from July onwards my younger kid also started going to school, so (instead of having more time )now i have even lesser time, .., as his play group is only for one and a half hour.., So picking and dropping the two takes all my time... :(

Also my elder one did had his 5th b'day party in july, so was busy few days with it, ( i shall upload some snaps soon)... Also 1st week of august was a week with one by one all getting sick..

Now now; enough of my excuses..hehe, getting over to the roundup of Cooking For Kids.. One thing that I wanted to ask all you bloggers , on behalf of Sharmi , the event starter, is for the future guest hosts of this event from september onwards. Whoever wants to host future CFK, please do contact her at cookingforkidsevent@gmail.com

And about this roundup, i did the roundup; in the same order as i received the entries.. Do remind me if i missed some entry.... Here are some cool and healthy lunch box ideas for all the kids and their mom's....

1. Oats rava idli by EC of Simple Indian food

2. Nameless Delight! by Sharmistha of COOK-A-DOODLE-DO

3. Tomato Masala Rice by Priyasuresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

4. Semiya Uppma by Vidhas of Appetizing Recipes

5. Whole Grain Pizza by Sadhana of A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine

6. Gobi manchurian fried rice by Andhraruchulu

7. Whole Moong Dhal Idly (Green Gram Idly) by Hemamalini of Salt to Taste

8. Dalia Upma with veggies by Pavani of Cook's Hideout

9. Pav Bhaji by Deepti Srivastava of Dipskitchen

10. Veg Vermicelli by Deepti Srivastava of Dipskitchen

11. Sooji Halwa by Deepti Srivastava of Dipskitchen

12. Colorful Vegetable Rice by Suparna Shaligram of Mirch Masala

13. Potato Stuffed Bread Rolls by Pari Vasisht of Foodelicious

14. Boiled egg Sandwich by Sudeshna of Cook Like a Bong

Also there are some few intresting and helpful tips for packing lunch boxes for kids by Sharmistha of COOK-A-DOODLE-DO at Tiffin Trouble!!

Announcing CFK: Healthy Lunch Boxes

2009-06-30T17:09:00.004+08:00

Finally this month i got the oppurtunity to host the event Cooking for Kids (CFK), a monthly event started by Sharmi @ Neivedyam. Sharmi wanted some time to get settled in her new home, and what i wanted was this oppurtunity to guest host this event . Seriously being a mom of 2 picky ,fuzzy eaters(5 yrs n 3 years ), and wanting them to have a proper balanced diet is really no joke.

Soon my kids too would start half day schools, and i would need a lots n lots of ideas to pack their lunch boxes. So, thought, why not have this as theme for July's edition of Cooking With Kids. When we were kids , we used to have whatever mom used to put in tiffin boxes, but now a days with so much junk food around, kids have gone so choosy, and we feel , how to somehow give them whatever healthy is possible.
So all you need is to cook something which goes as a healthy lunch box. It could be anything that can be packed and given to the kids for their lunch or snack time, and ofcourse is healthy.

Some simple guidelines for the event :

Make a vegetarian dish which can be packed in a tiffin in the month of July and post it in your blog before 31st July 2009. Eggs & Cheese are allowed.

Multiple entries are most welcome. You can also send from archieves, provided it should be properly updated and reposted. Posts should be linked back to the event's announcement post(this post) and Sharmi's blog.

Send the following details to neha.agrawal.2610(at)gmail(dot)com with the CFK: Healthy Lunch boxes as its subject line

Your Name
Blog name
Recipe Name
Recipe URL
A Photo of any size

The use of logo is optional, if you use good, if not then also good.:)

If you are a non-blogger and you wish to participate, send in the above details with the recipe. I will post them in the round up.
If you don't wanna post any recipe, but just some tips on how to pack lunch boxes for kids , that too is welcome.

Last date of this event is July 31st, 2009. So ,please all moms do share your yummy and healthy lunch boxes here with me, for all the other mom's to get benefit from.

Crunchy and Nutritious Soya Kababs

2009-06-15T16:44:00.007+08:00

Few weeks back was watching Sanjeev Kapoor's 'Khana Khanzana' and came across this recipe. Looked nice and healthy too and luckily was having all the ingredients at home, so that evening itself tried them out and they came out really well. All the ingredients were i felt healthy, and were the ones that i wanna add to my diet, and the best thing it's a shallow fried snack, unlike most indian snacks. Healthy ingredients like sago Sabudana or tapioca or pearl sago, soya nuggets and tofu . Do try out, it really taste yum...

Ingredients :

Soya chunks, soaked and drained 2 cups
Onion, finely chopped 1 large
Green chillies, finely chopped 2
Coriander powder1 tsp
Cumin powder 1 tsp
Red chilli powder ½ tsp
Ginger, grated 1 inch
Chaat masala 1 tsp
Dry mango powder (amchur) ¼ tsp
Tofu(extra firm), grated 150 grams
Poha, soaked ½ cup
Sago (sabudana),soaked 3-4 tbsp
Garam masala powder 1 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil to shallow fry

Method :

Blend soaked soya chunks, onion, green chillies, coriander powder, salt, cumin powder, red chilli powder, ginger, chaat masala powder and amchur powder in a blender.
After that in same blender add tofu and continue to blend for two more minutes.
Transfer the mixture into a bowl, add soaked poha, sabudana, garam masala powder and chopped coriander leaves ; mix well .
Divide the mixture into equal portions and shape them into round kababs.
Heat oil in a shallow frying pan. Gently lower the kebabs in the oil, and shallow fry them till they are golden brown on both the sides.
Drain on absorbent paper.
Serve hot with tomato sauce or green chutney.

Tip:

Breadcrumbs can be used in place of (and also along with) poha.
If you don't like tofu, can add paneer too to it.

MBP:Mango masti Roundup

2009-06-02T16:35:00.006+08:00

Here comes the roundup of Monthly blog Patrol : Mango masti. Thanx again to coffee for letting me host the event. I really enjoyed seeing all the mangoes coming in my inbox this summer. You all also enjoy..

.

1. Frozen Mango Yogurt by Sadhna of a2zvegetariancuisine inspired from here

2. Mango Ice Cream by Anu of My Scrawls inspired from here

3. Mango Pudding by Poornima of Tasty Treats inspired from here

4.Shrikhand with mango bites by Cham of Spice-club inspired from here

5. Aamras by Priyasuresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes inspired from here

6. Mango Jam by Divya Kudua of Easycooking inspired from here

7. Mascarpone cheese and mango by Bindiya of In love with food inspired from here & here

8. Aam Daal by Malini of Khana Khazana with Malini inspired from here

9. Appe huli by Priyanka of Asankhana inspired from here

10. Thai Sticky Rice with Mangoes by Pavani of Cook's Hideout inspired from here

11. Mango Salsa by Trupti of Recipe Center inspired from here

12. Spicy Mango Slices by Priyasuresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes inspired from here

13. Aam Pora Shorbot by Malini of Khana Khazana with Malini inspired from here

14 .Mango &carrot milkshake by Rekha of Plantainleaf inspired from here

15. Moist Mango Muffins by Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf inspired from here

16. Mango Halwa by Srilakshmi of Annapurna inspired from here

17. Mango Rava Kesari by Hemamalini of Salt To Taste inspired from here

18. Microwave Mango Halwa by Priyasuresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes inspired from here

Do tell me if any entry is missing or any link incorrect ,so as i can correct it.. ENJOY....

Vegetable Biryani

2009-05-28T15:26:00.002+08:00

BIRYANI, the name itself tells us that its something rich and flavourful and exotic and aromatic and tradional and.....
It was long time i thought of trying it out, but was afraid of the last step, cooking on low flame(as i don't have oven) and burning it, BUT the crispy bottom ,which was the result of slow cooking, made me make it again and again after that...
Biryani was introduced in Indian via Mughal cuisine. The word Biryani is derived from the Persian word beryā(n) (بریان) which means "fried" or "roasted". Traditionally, biryani is layered in a heavy pot and heated through until the rice at the bottom becomes crispy and delicious And the flavour of all the spices penetrates into each n every grain of rice. Its not very easy to cook biryani, as firstly it do requires a whole lot of ingredients (each and every is important for the flavour it gives) and takes time to cook, but the final result is simply awesome.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup basmati Rice
100 grams carrots
100 grams cauliflower
100 grams potato
More Veggie, like peas or beans
50 grams paneer
15 grams cashewnuts
15 grams Raisins
250 grams curds
40 grams fried onions
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
3 green chilli
1 tsp kala jeera
40 gms mint leaves
40 gms Coriander leaves
5- 6 tbsp oil
A pinch of Saffron(soaked in milk)
1 tsp whole garam masala
1 tbsp hydrebadi biryani masala
Salt to taste

Method:

First wash and soak the rice for atleast 20 minutes. Boil water and cook the rice in open pan(with lots of water), and drain the water when its only 70% cooked.

Chop all the veggies into big pieces lengthwise.

Take a wide bottomed pan, add oil,then whole garam masala,saute it. Then add zeera,ginger garlic paste, vegetables and mix well and finally add salt. Cook on medium high flame till they are only half done.

Now add mint,coriander,chopped green chillies,biryani masala, half cup of curd and then add paneer.

Next take a biryani bowl (or a baking dish), layer half of the cooked vegetables and spread all over, add some more curd, mixed nuts (optional), salt, fried onions.Next layer half rice, repeat the same process again.

Finally pour the saffron mixture over it and sprinkle the remaining fried onions and coriander leaves. Cover with tight lid or foil, and either bake on a preheated oven for about 20-30 mins or even can cook on stove top on low flame covered for 10-20 minutes.

Serve hot with raita or any vegetable curry.

Notes:
Whole garam masala: Can use ready mix or 2 inch cinnamon stick, 4 cardamom , 4 cloves, 2-3 bay leaves ,1 star arsine.
I didn't preferred deep fried onions , so before adding veggies added 2 sliced onions and cooked till done.

******************
Sending this to JFI:Mint at Ashwini's place started by Mahanandi

Tangy Pav Bhaji

2009-05-17T13:40:00.006+08:00

Pav Bhaji is one the most famous street food , savoured in all parts of india. Basically its a fast food dish native to maharashtra.

And which is the best Pav-Bhaji? Its the one where pav bhaji wala bhaiya is there, with his huge cast-iron pan in front of him. And all around are bowls of chopped veggies and an alarming number of packets of Amul butter, and Masala'a .Whatever is the order, he 'll put appropiate amount of veggies, boiled potatoes, loads of buttere, n all the masala's and then mash , and saute it to give a sizzle and fill the place with heavenly aroma. Then serve it with pav, roasted in again loads of butter and raw onions and lemon pieces.
Its done and it goes into the tummy melting in the mouth...

Now, there's no comparision for that Pav Bhaji, but quite a aroma and taste can also be reached at home. Try this.. (I know that the picture is not all duing justice to the yummy bhaji, but that much only i could do manage with the saved portion..)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped cauliflower,
1/2 cup chopped french beans,
1/2 cup green peas,
1 cup finely chopped capsicum (green peppers),
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots,
4 potatoes,
4 medium sized tomatoes,
3 medium sized finely chopped onions,
3 tbsp Pav bhaaji masala(Everest reccomnded),
4 5 green chillies,
4-5 garlic cloves,
1 inch ginger,
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional),
chopped coriander leaves,
salt to taste

Pav (a kind of bun)
1 pack salted butter (Amul butter is recommended)

Method:

Boil potatoes and mash them.Set aside.
Boil all the finely chopped vegetables separately.
Mash the boiled vegetables to form a coarse pulp using Pav bahji masher.

In a pan, melt 2 tbsp butter. Add cumin seeds (optional), finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies.
Then add 2 chopped onions, sauté till transulent and then add chopped tomatoes and cook till done.
Add the pav bhaaji masala and mix. Let it cook.
Now add mashed potatoes and add boiled vegetables.
Lastly add some butter again(it gives a nice aroma).
Finally add salt to taste.
Add water as required.
Cook till the bhaaji thickens.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Next give slits to the buns horizontally, i.e, keeping the base intact. On a hot griddle, melt butter. Arrange all the buns on the pan. Roast both the sides as well as the inner surfaces of buns with butter, pressing it slightly.

Serve these buns(pav) and hot bhaaji with chopped onions and a piece of lemon.

Tips:

Choose proper buns, do not buy the sweet ones or can have burger instead.
Use butter generously while making pav bhaaji.
Light roast the buns. Let them remain buttery and soft.
You can use any veggies of your choice.

Variations:

For an even spicier result, make masala pav...melt some butter in a skillet. Sprinkle pav bhaji masala in it, then fry the bread in this spicy butter until sizzling and golden.
Masala onion: Heat some butter, add a pinch of pav bhaaji masala and salt. Put the chopped onions, lemon juice and mix. Serve this masala onion with pav bhaaji.

***********************
Sending this to WYF:Quick meal
And also to Sunday snacks: Chaats, at All Thingz Yummy!!

Bhel puri

2009-05-09T17:51:00.001+08:00

Chaat is something that is loved by all. And now being away from India, we carve for them a lot more. So this very simple chat, Bhel Puri has become one of the most loved evening snack in our house. Its so flexible in its ingredients, that it can be enjoyed anytime, with whatall available in the kitchen(only puffed rice should be there) . Apart from Bhel popular Chaat's that we we relish are Aloo Tikkis (garnished with onion, coriander, hot spices and a dash of curd), bhel puri, dahi puri, panipuri, dahi vada, papdi chaat, and sev puri. Bhel puri is a a puffed rice dish with potatoes and a tangy tamarind sauce. It is prepared across India, and is known by different names ,Churu Muri in Bangalore or Jhaal Muri in Kolkata.

Ingredients:

4 5 flat crispy puris
200 gms puffed rice (kurmura / murmura/ murrah),
3 tbsp plain sev (thin one),
1 teaspoon chilli powder,
1 potatoes (boiled),
1 big red onion,
1 tomato
1 small bunch coriander leaves,
2 3 green chillies,
Lemon juice or raw mango (optional),
1/4 cup any spicy mixture,
2 tsp cumin powder,
salt to taste

Sweet tamarind chutney
Green chutney

Method:

Prepare the green and sweet chutneys.
Chop onion, potato, tomato and raw mango finely. Chop coriander leaves and green chillies. Set aside.
Mix together puffed rice and sev, salt and chili powder ,cumin powder and the mixture. I usually use Haldiram's 'Navratan' or 'Mixture' one, but can use any.
Before serving, mix chutneys to taste, chopped veggies and the murmura in a bowl.
To serve, put some bhel in individual plates, top with some more sev and chutneys (if desired) n serve immediately with crispy puris.

Tips:
There's no hard n fast rule for making Bhel's. If u don't have chutneys, you can skip them.
Can also add grated coconut or Musturd oil, to give it a unique flavour.

***************************
Sending this to Sunday snacks: Chaat, along with pani puri at All Thingz Yummy!!
And also to 15 minutes cooking @spices etc

FIC:Red & Green, Roundup

2009-05-06T16:43:00.006+08:00

Finally here comes the colorful roundup of last month's FIC: Red + Green. I was a bit doubtful while announcing the theme, but was overwhelmed with the response. So finally it wasn't atall tricky.. :) I'm glad.... Viewing all the red n green recipes pouring in was a soothing experience to my eyes.., Now you all also do feast your eyes and keep drooling(as i was ,while drafting this roundup)....

1. Kadai Paneer by pooja of SaiKitchen
2. Chillas with Gram Flour by Parita of Parita's kitchen
3.Vegetable fried rice by Kalva of Curry In Kadai
4. Stuffed Capsicum Rolls by Rashmi of Food-o-Rama
5.Creamy Broccoli Soup by Varsha VIpins of Will-O'-the-Wisp
6. Salad Decoration by Malini of Khana Khazana with Malini
7. Salad Decoration by Malini of Khana Khazana with Malini
8.Arai Keerai Kootu by Kayal of Kayal's Kitchen
9. Tawa Vegetables by EC of Simple Indian food
10.Mavadu / Tender mango pickle by Vidhas of Appetizing recipes
11.Red and Green Bell Peppers Korma by Asha of Foodieshope.
12.Potato Beetroot cutlet and Coriander chutney by Ashwini Kamath of Konkani Foodie
13.Tomato N Cucumber Salad by Priyasuresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
14.French Beans N Red-Bellpepper Rice by Priyasuresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
15.Tou Manchurian by Priyasuresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
16.Brown rice pilaf by Food Fanatic
17.Stuffed Capsicum in a Spicy Gravy by Srilakshmi of Annapurna
18.Strawberry Pistachio Pudding by Usha Rao of MySpicyKitchen
19. Navratan Korma by Malini of Khana Khazana with Malini
20. Grilled Capsicum and Tomato Salad by Malini of Khana Khazana with Malini
21. Roasted Capsicum Salad by Malini of Khana Khazana with Malini
22.Aval Uppuma by Sumy Sunil
23. Carrot Chutney by Sumy Sunil
24.Bittergourd Stir Fry by Deepika of Less Sugar,Please...For a Sweeter Life
25.Tomato Onion Gojju by Sushma of Savi-Ruchi
26.Clean-up-the-fridge Quiche by Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi
27.Radish, Peas and Bell Peppers Sauteed by Deepa Hari of Simple Home Cooking
28.Brocolli Capsicum Pepper stir fry by Rekha of plantainleaf
29.Snow Peas with Peppers by Tigerfish of teczcape-an escape to food
30.Pasta (Desi-style) by Aruna Chundi of The Temptations
31.Spicy Thai noodles by Manjusha of Inspired Cooking
32.Moong Dal chillas with twist of Bell Peppers by Parita of Parita's Kitchen

33.Spinach Tomato Sauce by Lakshmi of Lakshmiskitchen
34.Veg noodles by Sree of Tastespell
35. Green Almonds in Cucumber Gelée from Alinea by Jude of Apple Pie, Patis, and Pâté
36.Focaccia bread sandwich by Chaitra of Aathidhyam
37.Green Peas in Tomato Gravy by Valarmathi of Simple and Yummy Recipes
38.Indian Style Spaghetti Pasta with Olive Oil by Parita of Parita's Kitchen
39.Spicy Crackers by Raaga of The Singing Chef
40.Mushroom Peas Masala by Raaga of The Singing Chef
41. Jewel Salad by Soma of eCurry
42.Maavadu/Vadu Maanga by Shoba Shrinivasan of Anubhavati
43.Cilantro-Chickpea Fritters by Uma of Essence of Andhra
44.Instant Mango Thokku (Pickle) by Vidya of Delectable Vegetarian Recipes
45.Spinach with corn by Preeti of Khaugiri
46. Green Moong-Tomato kachumber by Indrani of Appyayan
47.Spicy Tomato Pickle by Oriya Food of Home Cooked Oriya Food
48.Green Beans Foogath by Meera of Enjoyindianfood
49.Vegetarian 'Pizza Capricciosa' by Graziana of 'Erbe in Cucina' (Cooking with herbs).
50.Thai fried rice by Archy of Archy's Recipe Book
51.Cilantro lime vinaigrette & fruity salad by Cham of Spiceclub
52.Spinach Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce by Priti of Indian Khana
53.Tomato-Lettuce Salad by Prathibha of The Chef and Her Kitchen
54.Mushroom Manchurian by Sia of Monsoon Spice
55.Stuffed Tomatoes by Malini of Khana Khazana with Malini
56.Spicy Tomato Rice by Lubna Karim of Yummy Food
57.Cucumber tomato salad by notyet100 of asankhana
58.Pesto Margherita Pizza by A&N of Delectably Yours
59.Thai Vegan Curry by Maya of KonkanWorld
60.Mozzarella Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Avocado Salad by Muneeba of An Edible Symphony
61.Capsicum Tomato Masala by Padma of Padma's Recipes
62.Watermelon and Feta Salad with Cucumber and Mint by Emiglia of Tomato Kumato
63.Healthy Bhel Salad by Few Minute Wonders
64.Keerai kootu by Kalpana of messycooks
65.Stuffed capsicums by Neha of Tasty Recipes

Phew..., Really a lot of them...I tried not to miss any entry, or do any error, but if there's any ,do tell me ,so as i can correct it... Thanx you all for yours participation...

Also do check out MBP: Mango masti going in this blog....

Announcing MBP

2009-05-02T23:42:00.007+08:00

Now here comes the theme for this month's Monthly blog Patrol MBP: Mango Masti.. Its May,and its so hot this year, so i thought that's its best to have some mango masti to relieve this scorching heat. MBP is the brain child of Coffee of Spice Cafe and i'm glad that she gave me a chance to be a guest host this month. Mangoes, the “divine national fruit” of India, are delicious fresh or pickled, and are perfect for refreshing summer time beverages or desserts.

So all you need is to cook something from fellow bloggers, containing the king of Fruits, Mango, raw or ripe. It could be anything from a starter, main course, side dish drinks or a dessert - anything as long as it has MANGO.

Some simple guidelines for the event :

1. Based on this month's theme, i.e, MANGO, you have to cook something from the fellow bloggers (the “from” has to be a blogger and not any other cooking site!!) posted recipes.Prepare any recipe using Mango as its one of the ingredient and post about it on your blog by 31st May 2009

2. Post a pic of the final recipe on your blog linking it to the blogger (whose recipe you made) , Coffee’s MBP event page and this announcement. Whether to make it a post or no, is entirely your choice. You can just put a final pic or put step by step pics or if you have made any variations you might want to highlight that or post the whole recipe. Its entirely upto you. But one final pic and a link to the origional recipe is a must.

3. Any number of entries are welcome as long as the posts are done in the month of May. That is 1st May to 31st May. Reposting from archives is also welcomed.

4. The food item should be vegetarian which may contain eggs.

5. Send the following details to neha.agrawal.2610(at)gmail(dot)com with MBP: Mango Masti, as its subject line

Your Name
Blog name
Recipe Name
Recipe URL of ur post
Recipe URL of original post
A Photo of of final dish

6. The use of logo is optional, if you use good, if not then also good.:)

7. If you are a non-blogger and you wish to participate, send in the above details with the recipe. I will post them in the round up.

The last date is 31st May, end of May. Coming soon is the roundup of FIC , do check out...

UPDATE:(7th May) I think there's some cofusion abt MBP, The dish has to be from other bloggers blog. I did updated the post a bit too to highlight the point. Thanx, waiting for the entries..

Stuffed Capsicums

2009-04-29T17:46:00.005+08:00

After a break i'm doing this post. This wasn't a intentional break, but we did shifted our house 2 weeks back, and somehow i wasn't able to browse from my new home. 1 week i was busy packing and unpacking, and now my laptop is setup in the same room ,where my kids take their afternoon nap, my only time for browsing. And they do "Sleep like a baby".(i always wonder why that mattress companies says 'like a baby', though babies are so notorious sleepers,may be the hours..).

Now coming to these Stuffed Peppers, there are a lot of ways to make these stuffed chillies, you may either fill them with potatoes(as i did), or gramflour or mixed vegetables,or any non veg stuffing, anything as par your taste. For the gramflour filling you can check stuffed chillies, which i posted earlier. Also as i didn't had oven so i made them on stove top, but doing in oven is better and easier.

Ingredients:

4 small sized green peppers
4 potatoes bolied n mashed
1 cup chopped mix vegetables
3 tbsp cooking oil
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion finely chopped
1 green chilli finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp raw mango powder
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the green peppers well and pat dry with paper towel. Cut the top off about 1/2" from where the stem is attached. Deseed and set aside.
Trim bottoms very slightly (do not make a hole) so as the peppers can stand up. Put all cleaned peppers in hot water till half done,drain and set aside for later use.
Heat 3 tbsps of cooking oil, add the cumin seeds. Now add the green chillies and garlic and fry till done.
Add the onion and fry till soft. Then add all finely chopped mixed veggies(i used carrots,peas,corn,beans, n deseeded capsicums) and cook till soft.
Now add all the powdered spices and fry for about a minute.
Finally add the mashed potato and mix well to blend with all the spices. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the fire, add salt to taste and mix well.
Now stuff each pepper fully with the mashed potato mix. Press down and top up to ensure they are well filled.
Heat 1 tbsp cooking oil in a shallow pan on a low flame. When hot add the peppers (standing up) and fry covered till done.
Gently turn the peppers all around and fry till golden. Turn off fire.
Garnish with grated cheese on top or even paneer.

Tip:
Its easier if after stuffing ,grate chesse on top, and bake them in the oven.
You also slit the chillies (if they are big), from the centre and cut them into 2 halves.

**************************
Sending this to FIC: Red + Green event going in my blog ,initiated by Harini. Also do check out for MBP event, which shall be guest hosted here next month.

AFAM, Roundup.

2009-04-05T12:00:00.000+08:00

Here comes a huge roudup of A Fruit A Month : Cucumber. I'm really overjoyed with the huge response. Thanx maheswari again, for letting me host one of my favourite fruit. Now i have lots of recipes, so as not to use cucumbers only in salads; but anything and everything, from main course to curries, pickels, smoothies or soup.
The cucumber is a natural diuretic which is used in the fitness world by bodybuilders and people trying to reduce their weight. So use externally for soothing your puffed eyes, or drink its juice to detoxify your body, its good for us. Or have it in so many different ways this summer and stay coooool.

*********
SOUPS
*********

1. Cucumber Soup by Aparna Prabhu of APS KITCHEN
2. Cold gazpacho soup by Neha of Tasty Recipes
3.Cucumber almond soup by A&N of Delectably Yours
4.Avacado and cucumber soup by Swapna of Cooking with swapna

**********
SALADS
**********

1. Tomato cucumber Salad by Food fanatic of Food fanatic
2. Khamang kakdi by Sanika N of Spicy & Tangy.....Sweet & Yummy !!!!
3. Soya N Cucumber Chilly by Aparna of Aps Kitchen
4.Cucumber Avocado Fiesta Salsa by Asha of Foodie's Hope
5. Kisrawiyya by Jessica Voloudakis of Fearless Kitchen
6. Cucumber Salad with Peanuts by Apu of Annarasa -Essence of Food

7. Cucumber Salad by Ashwini of Nanna Adige
8. Oh ee mu chim by PJ of Seduce your tastebuds
9. Carrot cucumber tomato salad by Vidya Venky of vidyascreations
10. Som Tam Mia Noi by Miri of Peppermill
11. Cucumber Peanut summer salad by Neha of Tasty Recipes

***************
Main course
***************

1. Cucumber Paratha by Sanika N of Spicy & Tangy.....Sweet & Yummy !!!!
2. Cucumber Wheat Dosa by Trupti of Recipe Center
3. Cucumber Pepper Idli by Deepika of Less Sugar, Please
4. Kakdi thalpith by Preeti of Khaugiri
5.Vegetable rice by Kalva of Curry In Kadai

******************
Dips(/chutneys)
******************

1.Cucumber Mustard Chutney by Deepika of Less Sugar, Please
2. Cucumber Dosa and Cucumber Chutney by Supriya of Queen of my kitchen
3. Cucumber chutney by prajusha of icookipsot
4. Tzaziki by Malini of Khana Khazana with Malini
5. Oi Sobaki by Shree of ShreeZ Experiments

**************
Side dishes
**************

1. Cucumber Raita by Bhawna Gupta of From My Palate
2. Cucumber raita by EC of Simple Indian food
3. Cucumber Yogurt Salad by Meera of enjoyindianfood
4. Spicy Cucumber Raita by Vidya of Delectable Vegetarian Recipes
5. Cucumber Sandwich by Madhumathi of Madhu's Food Journal
6. Cheese Veggie Sandwich by Rupali Jain of North Ki Rasoi Se...

**********
Curries
**********

1. Tamata-Dosakaya Curry by Lubna of Yummy Food
2. Dosakaya Pappu by Lubna of Yummy Food
3. Cucumber curry by Mahima of Olivesandbasil
4. Vellarikkai Puli Pachadi by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen
5. Vellarikka Kichadi by Divya Kudua of Easycooking

6. Southekayi Majjige Huli by Sushma of Savi-Ruchi
7. Southekayi Koddel by Lakshmi of Cooking Station
8. Sowthekai Kairasa by Srividya of Vidya's Kitchen
9. Khamang Kakdi by Preeti of Khaugiri

**********************
Smoothies & Coolers
**********************

1 . Strawberry N Cucumber Shake by Priyasuresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
2. Cucumber Popsicle by Priyasuresh of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
3. Cucumber and mint cooler by rekha of plantainleaf
4. Cucumber Lemonade by Uma of Essence of Andhra

5. Cucumber kiwi cooler by Cham of Spice-club
6. Cucumber drink by Deepa Hari of Simple Home Cooking
7. Cucumber Coolers by Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf
8. Cucumber Coolers by Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf

I did tried not to miss any entry, but if i did so , please do remind me, so as i can update it correctly. Thanx you all again for your lovely entries...

Announcing FIC

2009-04-02T16:38:00.008+08:00

This month i got the honour of hosting FIC, Food In Colors. Thanx Harini for that. So when i thought about which color to select ,i was really confused. It's always there for me, selection is a big trouble, for everthing. What all basic primary colors (or their shades) i could think of in terms of colors of food, were already over. So, after litreally eating away poor harini head, we decided to give it a twist and we ended up in a COMBO. "Red + Green". Whatever you prepare, the final dish should highlight BOTH the colours. Greens shouldn't be just a garnish(from coriander,mint etc), but a prominent color from the main ingredients of the dish. Quite tricky??. No No..., Just its just that green can come from capsicum, beans, peas etc..

So all do send me any vegetarian food, containing the selected colours predominantly. It could be anything from a starter, main course, side dish or a dessert - anything as long as the in the final dish Red And Green BOTH colors can be seen.

Some simple rules as stated by event starter:

1. Raw vegetables are not allowed except if used as such in salads or prepared food!

2. Any number of entries are welcome as long as the posts are done in the month of April. That is 1st April to 30th April.

3. Posts should be linked back to this event to this announcement post and to Sunshinemom of Tongue Ticklers

4. The food item should be vegetarian which may contain eggs.

5. Send the following details to neha.agrawal.2610(at)gmail(dot)com with the FIC, as its subject line

Your Name
Blog name
Recipe Name
Recipe URL
A Photo of final dish(any size)

6. The use of logo is optional, if you use good, if not then also good.:)

7. If you are a non-blogger and you wish to participate, send in the above details with the recipe. I will post them in the round up.

The last date is 30th April, end of April. So all, do send me ur entries for this colorful event..
Waiting for ur entries...