Home Cooks Recipe

My experiences in Vande Bharat Mission and delhi quarantine

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 19:14:00 +0000

We moved to California exactly 2 years ago and as iam not active in blogging I did not update here. 3 days back we moved back to India via Vande Bharat Mission.

From march I took care on not going out for grocery shopping or even say panicked very much for a outside walk. But life throws challenges at you and you should be brave enough to face it. We were asked to book tickets to India by my hubby company and from then the journey started. I was thankfull to beautiful souls who gave me strength and were helpful even now. This keeps me moving and it's the secret of my Strength.

This blog post is to share my experiences and few may find helpful. So first we registered at indian embassy site and then booked tickets in Air India vande bharat mission. It's not that easy to book as there are high demand. Recommend you to check tickets in website and app whenever you find time. keep checking air India site, they will release flight schedules and you can book accordingly.

Once we booked tickets, we started to sell, donate and wind up things we had and started packing.

First we ordered masks, hand gloves, sanitizers and wipes. I carried it all in my handbag which weighed 8kg with my other gadgets.

We boarded our flight at San Francisco and they did temperature check and asked us to fill an undertaking form.

It was 16hrs non stop journey. Air India provides 2 meals, snacks, water bottles, basic mask, wipes, face shield and a white coat like thing only to middle row passenger.

We should be mindful in not touching our nose. That's what I did. Few hours once used hand sanitizers and used hand gloves when I went to rest room. Few may hold your aile seat for a hold. So be mindful in cleaning your hands once a while. It was very difficult to wear n95 mask. I wore a basic mask which completely shielded my nose and mouth.

I thought journey will be more difficult. But things proved me wrong. Journey was comfortable and when I got down at delhi airport the trauma started. We were made to wait almost 11 hours after 16 hrs journey and passengers from other countries who landed also mixed with us. It exposed us to many people, which certainly could have been avoided.

They split us in groups a,b,r likewise.Only families with infants were spared I guess. Others were made to wait. Passengers from punjab, haryana, up, rajasthan were also moved separately. Other passengers were put in groups and made to wait. Even if you have next flight in few hours you should undergo this waiting. Even elderly in wheel chairs were not spared.
It took us 11.30 hrs to come out of airport. As I said even elders in wheel chair assistance also took same time. It takes 11.30 hrs for 1.thermal screening 2. Waiting for immigration checks 3. Baggage claims 4. To surrender passport 5. Medical check up/ temperature check up by delhi government 6. We are questioned in hard tone for not downloading arokiasetu app 7. To fill a undertaking form for home quarantine or hotel quarantine. You should have proper proof for home quarantine. For hotel quarantine delhi government helps us to choose from star and budget hotels.

Once we chose hotels, we will be made to wait not more than 20 mins for a bus to pick us and our baggages. A police vehicle escorts to make sure we reach hotels safely without escaping I'm between. Regarding hotel quarantine from which free wifi iam typing this post...

its a comfortable stay and they provide 3 meals at your room doorstep and ring bell. It's like my boarding school. Everyday they check our temperature. Will update about my next part of journey.

Notes:
You can skip delhi quarantine if you have a place to stay and be in home quarantine and booked a flight to your home state.

Seen elders in wheel chair assistance booked hotel for a day and travel the next day to home state.

Broccoli Rice for kids lunchbox

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 09:32:00 +0000

I know i have been missing here for a long time. So to break the ice, am sharing this broccoli rice recipe with you guys. Its so easy to make. My son loves broccoli, i just grill the broccoli florets and serve him. i even have in my draft of grilled broccoli. will soon share here. so one day i decided to make rice with broccoli for his lunchbox. It came out well and i photographed to share here.

Do not make broccoli pulao by pressure cooking the rice along with broccoli, it will make the broccoli mushy or so soft and it loses its green color which also means nutrients in it is lost. so now off to the recipe.

Broccoli Rice

Serves 2
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice: 150 grams
Broccoli - 1 medium
Garlic - 4 cloves (finely chopped)
Chilly flakes - 1 tsp
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Cumin - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Wash and soak the Basmati rice for 10 mins. If you do not have 10 mins, soak in hot water for about 5 minutes.

Pressure cook the drained basmati rice with rice:water in 1:1&1/2 ratio. Pressure cook for up to 1 whistle or 2 whistles. cool the rice.

Meanwhile when the rice is cooking, wash the broccoli florets and drain them.

Heat Olive oil in a pan, add cumin, finely chopped garlic and saute them. since i like roasted garlic, i saute them till they turn golden in color. Then add the broccoli florets. saute them in slow flame for about 5-8 minutes. till they are cooked. do not close the pan with lid as broccoli may change its color.

Once broccoli is cooked add required salt, chilly flakes and give a stir. Finally add the cooked and cooled basmati rice to the pan and slowly give a mix.

Transfer to serving bowl.

Pack this broccoli rice with cucumber raita for lunchbox.

Yay!! i am hitting the publish button after a year!!!!

moong dal halwa ~ பாசி பருப்பு அல்வா

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 18:45:00 +0000

I completely lost track of blogging. Since i felt i was so obsessed with blogging and checking comments, likes, etc. I thought of staying away for a while. also i had to tutor my son. which left me no time to to revive blogging. but i always think of what to cook , what props to buy, i even have a lot of drafts pending :) also blame my laziness! Now after a while, when i want to resume, blogging, as gone way ahead, i cant even figure out how much i missed and and how much i am lagging.

Diwali is just a week away and this Diwali 2016 is very special for us because its our Anniversary too. Our son is very much expecting 29th October:) Since its Double Dhamakha, I wanted to make the blog buzzing with sweets:-)

This Monng Dal Halwa is so simple, it does not need any technique like sugar syrup string consistency. Its Healthy sweet too. Only Guilt part was using White Sugar, which you can substitute with Brown sugar or Cane Sugar. This Moong Dal halwa will not be gooey in texture, it should be grainy and yet very soft in its texture. It should be with just enough sweetness.

Moong Dal Halwa Recipe

Soaking time - 5 hours

Cooking time - 45 minutes

Serves - 4

Ingredients:

Moong Dal - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Hot Milk - 1 cup

Ghee - 1/4 cup

Saffron few strands

Pistachios to garnish

Silver Leaf to Garnish

Method:

Wash the moong dal for at least three times. Soak the moong dal with water just to level the dal gets immersed in water. Soak Dal for about 5 hours.

Grind the soaked dal with very less water into a smooth paste.

Soak saffron strands in 1 tbsp of warm milk. Chop the pistachios to garnish.

Heat a pan, add 1/4 cup ghee, When the ghee gets hot, add the grounded moong dal paste to the ghee, slowly stir the paste in ghee, soon the ghee gets absorbed and you need to stir in slow flame for about 20 minutes till the moong dal slightly gets roasted. you will know it, as the raw smell goes off, moong dal gets roasted in ghee.

Now add hot milk to the moong dal, stir slowly. make sure the flame is at low. then add the sugar to the pan and stir. Add the saffron soaked in milk to the pan ans stir well. Now your Kitchen should smell amazing:)

Keep stirring the halwa for about 5-10 minutes, when the halwa comes together into a mass. make sure the halwa don't get so thick. If you stir for extra time, halwa becomes tight and loses its perfect soft texture.

Switch off the flame. Garnish with pistachios and silver leaf. Serve warm. It tastes divine when halwa is warm.

Notes:

Store halwa in fridge as it has milk in it. you can refrigerate and have within 2 or 3 days
Use cane sugar or brown sugar for healthier option.
Milk added to the halwa should be hot, else the the texture of halwa changes.
Grounded moong dal should roasted in ghee for about 20 - 25 minutes.
After adding milk and sugar, just make sure the halwa comes together. do not keep stirring too much, as the texture changes.
I skipped adding cardamom powder, you could add it.

Easy Brownie Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 08:36:00 +0000

As i always mention on each and every brownie recipe post, i am huge brownie addict. This post is a quick post, as many of my friends wanted to try this brownie and asked me for the recipe. I am posting the recipe here in midst of preparing for my son's exam:) Yesterday i made oreo brownie for my friends daughter birthday and i shared it on my instagram. Loving all the comments and likes i get there. Between If you are interested in knowing my food trails and my day to day lunch box, please follow my instagram account.

Ingredients:

Butter - 1/2 cup

Dark Chocolate - 125 gms (i used morde dark chocolate 1 quarter of a bar)

Maida / All purpose flour - 3/4 cup

Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup

Large Eggs - 2

Walnuts - 1/4 cup

Chocolate chips - 1/4 cup

For Greasing - 1 tsp of butter

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C for about 10 minutes. Line the baking tray with aluminium foil sheet or baking paper. grease the baking paper with butter and set aside.

Using Double Boiler Method, Melt the dark chocolate and butter.

Once its melted, remove the pan to the kitchen counter, Add 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and mix well with a spatula.

[picture shows one egg, add 2 large eggs]

Break in 2 eggs into the melted chocolate + butter mix. with a help of a spatula gently fold the eggs.

Then add maida flour to the chocolate mix. slowly fold the flour with the chocolate mix.

Add in the chopped walnuts and dark chocolate chips. mix the batter well.

Transfer the mixture to the greased baking tray. Bake the brownies at 180C for about 30 minutes. Toothpick inserted at the centre of the brownie should come out clean.

Wait for the brownie to cool a bit and then make slices and serve to your dear ones:)

NOTES:

Bake the brownies at 180C for about 30 minutes. sometimes it may take 5 minutes to 10 minutes extra. Bake till the toothpick inserted to the centre of the brownie comes out clean.

If the Brownie batter is too thick add 2 tsp of milk to the batter.

You can increase the sugar by 1/4 cup if you prefer the brownie little bit sweet.

Ramzan Special Seviyan ~ Sheer Khurma

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 12:18:00 +0000

Two days back my friend visited home. when we were having lunch she was telling me how her son learned about this seviyan from his hindi text book and that he wanted to taste it. On hearing this, yesterday i googled and found what is seviyan / sheer korma. now here I am blogging about! Today morning i made this easy sweet dish. packed it for her son. It seams he liked it a lot! Happy Me!!

It just took less than 20 minutes to prepare. please don't ask me how much time it took to photo shoot this yummy seviyan! But after clicking pictures, i sat with the pan in which i made this seviyan and a spoon to clean the pan. So absolutely rewarding photo shoot!

This Ramzan special sweet is called seviyan in North India and Its also known as Sheer Khorma or Sheer Khurma meaning Milk with Dates.

Sheer Khurma Recipe

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 2 to 3

Ingredients:

Vermicelli - 25 long cut semiya (broken into 3 parts) or 1/4 cup short cut semiya

Ghee - 1/2 tsp

Milk - 500 ml.

Sugar - 1/2 cup or 125 grams

Arabian Dates - 5 (de seeded and finely chopped)

Pistachios - 5 (finely chopped) to garnish

Edible Rose water - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:

In a wide bottomed pan, heat ghee and roast the vermicelli in slow flame till it turns into light golden color.

Slowly add 1/2 a liter of milk to the pan. Let the milk boil. Then add in the sugar and finely chopped dates.

Cook the vermicelli in slow flame with stirring continuously. Once the vermicelli is cooked, let the milk reduce into half of its quantity. this takes 15 minutes in slow flame. by the time, dates also get softened.

Seviyan will thicken when it gets cooled down. so switch off the flame when seviyan turns little thicker. Add pistachios or nuts of your choice. Add a dash of rose water for flavor. I did not add rose water.

Serve warm or chilled with chopped pistachios.

Notes:

Use Good quality of dates. You can also soak dates in warm milk for about 30 minutes, before adding to fasten the softening of dates in the seviyan.

I preferred long cut semiya as it gets cooked fast and its the perfect one for payasam or this sheer korma.

I first hesitated to add dates, but once i tasted it in the korma, i loved the flavor of it. So do not hesitate to add dates and also do not go overboard on dates.

You can also fry roast the nuts in ghee before garnishing.

Add Sugar according to your taste. Note that the dates will impart its own sweetness to the seviyan.

How it tasted? Will i prepare this for next time?

It tasted with a little bit of taste of dates, which i really liked it. though the preparation is much like our semiya payasam, this is of different taste definetly worth to try!

Yes I will prepare this next time. even tomorrow as it got over soon and we want it more! Yes i could only make 2 servings with the above proportion!

Happy Ramzan !!

Maravalli kizhangu vadai / Tapioca vadai

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 18:25:00 +0000

This is the season of tapioca in Chennai. We used to have lots of tapioca chips during our college days as evening snack. I was in no mood to make chips, So i choose to make the batter to prepare idly, dosai and vadai. All turned out interestingly Good. So Here is the recipe to help you all out, if you need to to try this vegetable.

soaking time : 4 hrs.
fermentation time : overnight
preparation time: 10 mins.
this batter can be used to make idli and dosai.
recipe given is to grind using wet grinder, you can reduce the quantity into half, if you want to grind using mixie

Ingredients:

for the batter:

Par boiled rice - 1 cup
Raw rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Maravalli kizhangu / Tapioca - 1 big one(peeled and grated) / 2 cup's

for vada's:

Onion - 1

Curry leves - 1 sprig (finely chopped)

Green chilli - 1 (finely chopped)
Sunflower oil - 1 cup (to deep fry the vada's)

Method:

1. Soak the par boiled rice and raw rice together in water for about 3-4 hrs. soak the urad dal in water for about one hour.

2. Peel the outer skin of maravalli / tapioca and wash it thoroughly. then grate with the help of grater or chop them into small pieces.

3. Now first grind the urad dal with 1/2 cup of water sprinkled in between while grinding, just as we grind for idli/dosa's. after 30 minutes, add the soaked rice and grind finely. sprinkle water in between. finally add the grated maravalli kizhangu and let it grind into a smooth paste. together it will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour for grinding in your wet grinder.

4. Let the batter ferment for about 6 hrs. dilute the batter with salt required for making dosa, add salt to the batter and mix well.

5. Add finely chopped onions, and finely chopped green chilly and curry leaves to the batter. mix the batter well.

6, Heat Oil in a frying pan. Once the oil is heated, drop a spoonful of batter to the oil. and fry it in slow flame till the vadai turns into golden color.

7. Remove the vadai from oil to a kitchen towel and drain the excess oil.

8, Serve the Vadai hot with your favorite chutney.

Notes:

This batter will not be like urad dal batter, which makes it impossible to make vadai with holes in center.

You can use this batter to make Idly and Dosa.

I served the vadai with vara milagaai chutney, which turned out to be great accompaniment.

Cucumber pickle without oil ~ Stuffed Cucumber Kimchi

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 07:56:00 +0000

I got completely hooked to Korean food and culture. To start with i tried Koreans most favorite Kimchi. From my view it is like our Pickle, with few tweaks here and there. Its spicy, salty, little sour. They Ferment the Kimchi well, I personally did not like the taste of fermented Kimchi. So i made the kimchi and stored it in refrigerator. The Surprise part is how the cucumbers and Radish tasted. It acquired the flavors and tasted so good.

This Cucumber kimchi was so easy to make. it just took flat 20 minutes to make. Do not hesitate to try out this healthy as well Tasty food. How to eat this kimchi was the big question for me. Koreans eat kimchi along with rice. i tried it. but it did not suit my taste. Today i ate along with my bread and omlette. it was so Good. Both my Hubby and Son loved it.

This is vegetarian kimchi recipe.
Recipe Source: Maangchi and Koreanbapsang

Ingredients:

English Cucumbers - 4
Carrot - 1
Radish - 1
Spring onion - 3 (green part)
White onion - 1/2
Garlic - 4
Chilly powder - 2 tbsp
Rock salt - 4 tbsp
Brown Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp

Method:

Wash the cucumbers well and trim its edges. Put a cross cut on cucumber leaving the bottom part uncut and intact with at least 1/2 inch uncut.

Take a big vessel, add 4 cups of water and 3 tbsp salt to the water. soak the cucumber for about 30 minutes.

In the mean time to prepare the stuffing for the cucumber, finely chop the carrot and radish into thin strips lengthwise. chop the garlic finely and chop the white onion finely. Mix all the chopped veggies in broad vessel. add in the chopped spring onions. add brown sugar, chilly powder and 1 tbsp of rock salt. mix well with your hand.

Now remove the soaked cucumbers from salt water, stuff the cucumbers with the stuffing made. coat the cucumbers well in the stuffing and arrange in a glass jar or in a air tight container.

Store in fridge. It tastes better the next day after fermenting in refrigerator.

Before Serving, slice the cucumbers into small portions like shown in the pics.

Note:

The actual Kimchi recipe is to add fish sauce and prawns. If you like the taste of soy sauce add it else ignore it.

You need to ferment the kimchi at room temperature for a day. since fermenting changes the taste of kimchi, i refrigerated it and we consumed within 2 days.

KOKUM RASAM

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 09:27:00 +0000

Kokum is a fruit which is dried and used in cooking like sherbet, saaru / rasam and in dal. kokum is available in western ghats region and more used in cooking in these regions. We happened to buy a pack of kokum in our last summer trip and i was trying many kokum recipes with that. i also keep on raving about kokum to my neighbors and friends. it imparts such a new flavor to the dish. You should try this kokum saaru / rasam to experience the taste of kokum. It is also good for health. to know more, read here

KOKUM RASAM
Ingredients:

Kokum - 3
Green chilly - 2
Jaggery - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

For tempering:

Oil - 1/2 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 2 (crushed)
Dry red chilly - 1
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Asafoetida - a pinch

To Garnish:

Finely chopped coriander leaves

Method:

First Soak the kokum in a cup of water for about 1 hour. after that squeeze out the kokum. add salt to taste and jaggery to the kokum water and stir well. slit two green chilly and add to the kokum water.

Now Let the kokum water boil. by the time it boils heat oil in a tempering pan, add mustard, crushed garlic, broken dry chilly, asafoetida and curry leaves.

Pour the tampering to the boiling kokum rasam. garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with Rice.

Lychee Juice ~ Longan Juice

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 15:08:00 +0000

Lychee is best for this scorching summer. I wanted to try lychee juice for a long time, finally made it last week. Recipe for lychee juice can be said in two lines. its that simple. If you have not tried lychee, do try it out. it tastes just like Nungu / Palmyra / Ice-apple. I was surprised as it tasted just like our Nungu.

The one that i have used is called Longan fruit. But it all belongs to the lychee family ;)

Ingredients:

Lychee / Longan - 12
Sugar - 2 tsp
Ice water - 1 cup
Ice Cubes - few

Method:

Cut the outer layer of the lychee skin with a knife. then peel out the skin.

With your Fingernail remove the lychee seed out. discard the seed as it is inedible.

Now gather the lychee fruits without the seed in your juicer, add ice water, sugar and few ice cubes. Grind it well so the lychees are completely grinded.

If you wish to filter the juice, you can filter and serve with ice cubes.

Note:

You can serve with mint and a lemon slice.

Lychees tend to ripe fast, so use it immediately on buying.

Nellikaai Thayir Pachadi ~ Gooseberry Chutney

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Fri, 15 May 2015 06:00:00 +0000

Eating Gooseberry is Good for Health. I can never eat raw gooseberry. My taste bud never allowed me to eat one whole gooseberry till now. I like the candied gooseberry and a sweet pickle made with gooseberry. This chutney is another way that i eat. The tangy curd and spicy chilly balances the sourness. This chutney is for people like me, who could not eat raw gooseberry.

Ingredients:

Gooseberry - 3
Grated Coconut - 4 tsp's
Green Chilly - 3
Ginger - 2' inch size
Curd - 2 tbsp's
Salt - to taste

For Tempering:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaf - 4

Method:

Wash the Gooseberry and steam cook it in pressure cooker for 5 minutes or in microwave high for 3 minutes. remove the seeds of the gooseberry.

To grind the chutney, add the steamed and de-seeded gooseberry, grated coconut, green chilly, ginger and salt to taste. Grind them all into a coarse paste.

Add curd to the grounded mix and transfer the chutney to a serving bowl.

For tadka, heat oil in tadka pan, add mustard and let it splutter, tear and put in the curry leaves. now pour the tadka over the chutney.

This chutney tastes best when served with hot steaming rice.

Ginger Lemon Soda

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Thu, 14 May 2015 11:51:00 +0000

This Ginger lemon soda is good for digestion. also if pitta level in our body goes up, this soda is the best way to bring down the pitham / pitta.

Ingredients:

Dry Ginger powder - 1 tsp
Lemon Juice - 2 tsp's (or) Juice of 1 lemon
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - a small pinch
Soda - 1 glass

Method:

To prepare your own dry ginger powder, first crush the dry ginger/sukku with pestle and mortar and then use your mixie jar to grind into powder form. now sieve the ginger powder, measure 1 tsp of it and to an empty glass.

Squeeze the lemon juice and add to the glass. add sugar and salt to the glass. mix them all well with a spoon.

Finally add in the Soda to the glass.

Drink the Soda ASAP.

I usually drink this soda and walk for five minutes. soon i will feel refreshed. Do this soda, it is perfect for this Summer.

Carrot Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 18:45:00 +0000

Its been a long time since i made a recipe post. Life goes on as usual, but not my mind. I had and i still have severe mood swings, which made me stay away from online for a while. i always feel breaking the ice is one crucial point to go ahead with challenges. Today, this moment i decided to break the ice with my blog!! here i dusted down this carrot soup post from draft and presenting here.
Hope to Cook and Blog More in this Summer Holidays! Wish me Lots of Strength and Hope Your Wishes Pushes me furthur!!!

Summer is here. Chennai is super hot now. I made this carrot soup in winter, but posting it now in hot summer. When i saw these carrots with its leaves on, i couldn't resist to pick one bunch. two years back, when we were in Ooty, we traveled to avalanche. on route there were so many carrot fields, we stopped in between and got fresh carrots right from the fields. we even spotted two carrot cleaning machines which cleaned the mud and cleaned the carrots thoroughly.

In Chennai, we can rarely find these root vegetables with its leaves. when i spotted, i got a bunch a tried this soup recipe from BBC Good Food book.

Ingredients:

Carrots - 3 or 4 (small sized ones or few baby carrots)
Onion - 1
Thai Red chilly - 1/2 ( remove the seeds)
Potato - 1
Garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger - 1' inch
Vegetable stock - 200 ml
Spices - cinnamon, star anise and lemon grass
Butter - 1 tsp
Madras curry powder / sambhar powder - 1/2 tsp

To Garnish:

Coconut cream - 2 tsp's

Method:

Heat a pan, add butter, spices, ginger, garlic, red chilly and saute the onions, carrots and potato.
Add the vegetable stock to the pan also add madras curry powder 1/2 tsp. cover the pan and cook the vegetables in medium flame for about 12 minutes. then remove the whole spices cinnamon, star anise. Let the vegetables get cooled down. Then grind them smoothly. Again heat the soup. Add salt to taste and serve the soup warm with coconut cream on top.

Notes:

I used Maggie veg stock cube to prepare vegetable stock.

Half of a Thai Red Chilly will add lots of spice to the soup. make sure to remove the seeds of the chilly.

Serve either with coconut milk or fresh cream.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 06:07:00 +0000

Mushroom soup is easy to prepare and it is far better in taste than ready to make soups available in the market. Soup when served along with bread make it as a good meal. we prefer this simple meal in winter. I always make it a point to cook the mushroom the same day i buy. this way we can avoid the color change in mushrooms.

Cleaning the mushroom takes time, but cleaning one by one with our scrubbing our fingers over the mushrooms under tap water makes it easy.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

Button Mushroom - 200 gms

Onion - 1

Butter - 1 tbsp

Milk - 1 and half cup

Pepper and salt to taste

Fresh cream - 1 tsp

Method:

Clean the mushroom well and trim the stem like part a little. Chop the mushroom into pieces.

In a pan, add butter and sliced onion, saute the onions till it turns translucent, then add in the chopped mushrooms and saute in medium flame for about 5-7 minutes till the mushroom emit water and get cooked well.

Then add the milk to the pan and let the milk boil. switch off the flame and let the pan rest for about 5-10 minutes till the contents on pan is cooled completely.

Shift the mushroom along with milk to your mixer grinder and grind it nicely. Again heat the pan, add the grinded soup and just warm up the soup. remember not to boil the soup. Season the soup with salt and pepper.

Add fresh cream as a garnish to the soup.

Serve with toasted bread slices.

Notes:

You can skip onions and just saute mushrooms in butter and proceed.

Do not let the soup boil, after grinding, the soup may get grainy. so just warm up.

Chilli Gobi Fry / Cauliflower Fry

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 09:21:00 +0000

When we were in bangalore i have ordered gobi 65 at hotels as they serve it hot, which will be great for the chilling weather. Last year i found out a superb recipe for this chilli gobi at marias menu. soon i tried and liked the fry very much. Though i did not add any sauces, eating just plain was very good. it was super crisp and tasted so good. only drawback is the recipe calls for egg white.

These small forks are gifted by Raji when we met for the first time. She is such a sweet person and i can never forget our first meet. Raji hope you remember our first meet! Thank you for these lovely forks!

Ingredients:

Cauliflower - 1
Kahmiri chilly powder - 2 tsp
Egg - 1 (just egg white)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Maida - 1/4 cup
Corn flour - 1/4 cup
Oil to fry - 1 cup

Method:

Cut the stem off from the cauliflower and split into separate small florets. Wash them well. In a vessel add 2 cups of water and let it boil. add these cauliflower florets and a bit of salt. cook for at
least 5 minutes in medium flame. drain the cauliflower and set aside.

Mix the kashmiri red chilly powder with 2 tsp's of water into a thick paste.

To make the flour batter -
In a separate bowl, add the maida flour and corn flour, sieve them well. add ginger garlic paste. kashmiri chilly powder paste and egg white to the flours. Mix them all till they are well combined.

Add little bit of water about 2 tbsp's to make the mix little thin.

Heat a pan to fry, add oil and heat it. once the oil gets medium hot, dip the cauliflower florets in the flour batter and drop into the oil slowly. fry them they turn into golden color. drain in a kitchen towel.

Serve in hot, when cooled down it do not taste good as it loses it crispiness!

Notes:

You can add a tsp of vinegar while preparing the flour batter.
or you can serve with chat masala sprinkled over the chilli gobi.

Creamy Sweet Corn Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 07:32:00 +0000

I saw this recipe in a TV show long back. when i chanced upon Del monte Creamy style Sweet corn, i bought a tin to try out this soup. It just tasted like the one we have at restaurants. its an easy recipe too. you can just follow the instructions given on the tin and make it. My son loves soup very much. he would taste all sorts of soup, but his all time favorite is my tomato soup. I am preparing mushroom soup this evening, which i will share with you tomorrow.

This recipe has corn starch, so it tastes different than regular sweet corn soup, in which we cook the corns and grind into a puree like the sweet corn soup i made earlier.

Ingredients:

Creamy style Sweet corn - 1 small tin
Carrot - 1
Beans - 5
Cabbage - 1/4 cup (grated)
Corn flour - 1 tsp
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Spring onions - 2 tbsp's (finely chopped)
Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Method:

Chop vegetables and spring onions(green part) into small pieces.

Grate cabbage into thin strips.

Mix the corn flour with 1/4 cup of water without any lumps and set aside.

In a pan, add 2 cups of water, add carrot and beans. let them cook in medium flame for about 5 minutes, once the vegetable are half way cooked, add in the creamy style sweet corn and mix well. Add the grated cabbage and let the soup boil for 5 mins in slow flame.

Now add the corn flour mixed with water to the pan. mix well before adding to the pan.
Finally season with salt, pepper and 1 tsp of vinegar. Add the chopped green spring onions and give a mix. let the soup come to a boil and switch off the flame.

Serve the soup hot with crushed pepper.

Notes:

If you do not find cream style sweet corn, just add the sweet corns alone.

adding vinegar is also optional.

Vegetable Kolhapuri ~ Kolhapuri Vegetable Curry with Kolhapuri masala recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 14:08:00 +0000

Cooking regional cuisines with their own special chilly is like bringing the same flavor and heat required for the dish. If you happen to find Kashmiri chilly, Goan chilly, Guntur chilly, Bedgi chilly, do try the regional special recipes. This Vegetable Kolhapuri needs kolhapuri lavangi mirchi to get the right spice and color for the dish.

This is a easy to prepare side-dish that goes well with roti, naan and pulao. It may look like a spicy dish with the color, but its a mild flavored curry with cashew paste, which thickens the curry.

Kolhapuri Masala Recipe

Ingredients:

Dry Red Kashmiri Chilly - 4

Dry Red Chilly - 4

Corriander seeds - 2 tsp

Pepper - 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp

Nutmeg - a small pinch

Cloves - 4

Cinnamon stick - 1'inch size

Dry Coconut - 2 tsp's

Cardamom - 4

Method:

Dry roast the above ingredients in slow flame for about 5 minutes, till its lightly roasted and gives out a nice aroma.

Cool the roasted spices and grind into a fine powder. You can store in a air tight container and refrigerate it for further use.

Vegetable Kolhapuri Recipe

Ingredients:

Onions - 2

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp's

Bay leaf - 1

Oil - 2 tbsp's

Cashews - 10 / 15

Tomato - 1

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Kolhapuri Masala - 2 tsp's

Chilly Powder - 1 tsp (optional)

Vegetables:

Carrot - 2

Potato - 2

Beans - 6

Green peas - 1/4 cup

Method:

Grind the cashews with warm water into a fine and smooth paste. set this aside.

Peel the skin of the carrot and potato, dice them lengthwise. chop the beans. Steam the vegetables for including green peas for about 12 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan, add bay leaf and finely chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. roast the onions in slow flame, till they turn light golden color. Now add turmeric powder and salt to the onions. Then add in the kolhapuri masala powder and chilly powder(optional). saute along with the onions.

Now add 1 cup of water and let the curry come to a boil.

Add the cashew paste to the curry and let it come to boil. now add finely chopped tomatoes and mix with the curry.

Finally add in the steamed vegetables to the curry and mix slowly. Remove the curry from flame.

Garnish the curry with corriander leaves.

Serve with pulao varieties, Roti, Naan or pulka.

Notes:

If you cannot find kashmiri chilli, use normal dry red chilly available with you and add kashmiri chilly powder in the curry.

This is a semi gravy so add water accordingly.

Tirunelveli Halwa ~ Halwa with Cracked Wheat

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 19:41:00 +0000

Making our traditional sweets brings more happiness. Tirunelveli halwa is my hubby's favorite. He always buys a pack of halwa whenever he visits tirunelveli. I wanted to try this halwa for this diwali, first i was little hesitant to try as it takes lots of ghee to make. Watching masterchef and all the cookery shows, i gathered my confidence and tried it.

Tirunelveli halwa came out so well and everyone who ate loved it and asked me for the second servings. Feeling Great on trying this halwa! Though everyone liked this halwa more than my jangri, I completely loved my jangri!

When Jayashree posted halwa recipe back in 2008, i kept a note of the recipe as it was so easy that we need not stir and just use our pressure cooker and microwave oven. I started making as per her recipe and when i added the wheat milk to the sugar and water in the cooker, it got thickened instantly, i feared about pressure cooking the mix and went ahead with the traditional painful stirring on stove top! But will try out the microwave version once for sure, as i liked the halwa taste.

This Halwa recipe is not tricky, its very easy to make and beautifully turns out into delicious halwa with just one mandatory condition of stirring it for about 1 hour! Yes it almost takes 1 hour to stir,stir, stir, ghee, ghee, ghee, stir, stir, stir. thats it. The next day, halwa was beautifully set and i was happy to cut them into slices. It was silky and firm, a perfect halwa i would say!

When i started clicking pictures, rain started and the weather went gloomy. i could not click pictures as i wanted. so here is my statement - Do not judge this halwa with its appearance, it was so Yummy!! I just took a picture of this halwa with jasmine, as the idea struck, so here it is...

Ingredients:

Cracked Wheat / Samba Godhumai Rava - 1 cup / 250 gms.
Brown Sugar - 3 cups
Ghee - 3/4 cup / 200 ml.
Water - 4 cup
Cashews - 10

[1 cup cracked wheat yielded 1 cup wheat milk.
For 1 cup wheat milk - 3 cups of brown sugar and 4 cups of water is added. ]

Method:

Soak the Cracked Wheat in water for overnight or 10 hours.

Next day grind the soaked cracked wheat along with water in your mixie jar. Now filter the grinded mix to extract the first pressed milk. then add another cup of water and grind to get the second pressed milk. its just like how we do for coconut milk.

Once the wheat milk is extracted, mix the first pressed and second pressed and set aside. do not disturb it for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, the milk would have developed scum and the water would have seperated and will be above the milk layer. discard the water carefully and measure the milk alone. For me it exactly measured 1 cup / 250 ml. Wheat milk was like dosa batter.

In a Pressure cooker pan, add 3 cups of brown sugar and cups of water. just dilute the sugar and switch on the flame.

Make sure the flame is low and start adding the wheat milk on one hand and keep stirring with the other hand, so that no lumps are formed. actually i left to form lumps, as i was clicking pics. then i managed to filter the whole mix and started off again.

Soon after adding the wheat milk, it got thicken, and the stirring process started. You need to stir for every 30 seconds to avoid the halwa sticking to the bottom.

In the mean time, chop the cashews into small pieces, fry in ghee and add it to the halwa.

Keep on stirring and add ghee 1 tbsp at a time. almost 45 mins later, halwa drank all the ghee and got ready, as it started to ooze out the ghee. it also stops sticking to the bottom.

check this video to get an idea, on how the halwa will look at the end.

Once the halwa is ready, serve it warm to your family and then you can grease a tray with the ghee that ooze out from halwa and transfer the halwa to the greased tray. i left the tray overnight and i was able to cut the halwa into slices.

Re-heat the halwa, every time you serve, as the ghee tend to solidify and change the halwa texture and taste,

Notes:

You can use normal sugar, i preferred brown sugar to get the exact tirunelveli halwa color.

Be generous with the amount of ghee you add, finally it oozes out the ghee, so if you prefer, you can remove the ghee and consume.

This halwa keeps well for 2 days at room temperature. you can store this halwa in fridge and it stays good for 2 weeks.

Always Re-heat or microwave the halwa for 30 - 45 seconds before serving.

Use only Samba Wheat Rava to make this halwa.

Jangri Recipe ~ How to make Jhangri

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 14:54:00 +0000

Yes! I made it! I jumped out of joy when i saw my jangri holding its shape, i was very thrilled when i tasted crispy and hot jangris. Jangri is my favorite sweet. I like to eat it warm. My Grand father would buy me warm jangri from sweet stalls, and i would devour it! Bliss!! Every diwali i used to experiment making jangri. after failing for 4 years, this time i cracked the jangri code. everyone appreciated it. My son is my best critic. he said its Nice, but it should be more sweet like the ones in sweet shops. Yes he was right. Sweet shops jangri are more sweeter than mine.

Sharmi kept on pushing me to try some sweet for this diwali. Yesterday i tried/experimented making jangri and it was a flop show. Today without giving up i made and here it is. of course there is a proper method in making jangri. i call it as tricks. I will share what all mistakes i made earlier and what worked. so this recipe becomes a fool proof one.

From the day one i first saw Raks Jangri, i wanted to try. Every diwali i open up her blog and go to her jangri post and drool at her jangris:) Thank You Raks for the inspiration!!

Yields - 25 jangris
Soaking time - 1 hour. you can make whole batch of jangris in 1 hour.

Ingredients:

Whole Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Sunflower oil - 2 cups
Orange red food color - 2 pinch (or) 1/4 tsp

Method:

Wash the urad dal in water for about 5 times, till you see clear water. Soak the urad dal in water for about 1 hour.

Drain the urad dal and grind it in your mixie jar with little water. grind it smoothly. make sure you grind into a fine paste. it would take 2 or 3 minutes to grind finely. you should see the batter bubbling and going off.

Once the urad dal batter is done, transfer it to a bowl. add orange red food color to it and mix well. If you have a zip lock cover, spoon in the batter into the cover and make a small hole like we make for our mehendi cones. (remember the hole should be small, the batter expands and you get a little thick jangris in oil) i had my cup cake frosting kit and i used it.

To make sugar syrup, measure 3/4 cup of sugar and add 1 cup of water. dilute the sugar and bring it to boil. Do not go for string consistency here. its enough if you get to the stage as we get for gulab jamun. we call it as sticky stage or pisukku padham in tamil.

Heat a wide bottomed pan. add 2 cups of oil to it and heat it. Oil should be off medium hot. switch off the flame and draw jangri patterns in oil with your hand some 7 - 10 cms above the oil. after drawing the jangri patterns. switch on the flame to low heat. using a chopstick or paniyaram kuchi, slowly turn the jangri's. it will get cooked in less than a minute. slowly pick the jangri and soak it in sugar syrup for 2 minutes and then transfer it to a clean plate. (do not use kitchen tissue).

Eat and Serve the Jangri Hot/Warm to your loved ones.

Tricks:

1. Urad dal should be washed well before it is soaked. i washed it for 5 times.

2. Maintain low heat or switch off the flame while making jangri patterns and then you can switch on the flame immediately.

3. Make sure your urad dal batter is not so thick or watery. refer stepwise pics to get the idea of the batter. make sure you grind the batter smooth. you can use grinder, if you are used to grind batter for vada in it.

4. You can use a normal cover or ziplock cover to fill the batter.

5. Do not make sugar syrup with single string consistency. sugar syrup should be little thicker than we get for our gulab jamun.

6. Jangri get cooked very fast. do not fry for longer time.

7. You need not use Raw rice or Rice flour or corn flour along with urad dal. just urad dal gives great jangris.

What all mistakes i made earlier-

1. First i grinded the urad dal batter into a very thick one. no it should be of correct consistency as we do for our vada.

2. I drawed jangri patterns in hot oil. then in medium flame, then in slow flame. all got expanded and lost its shape in oil. i switched off the flame and drawed jangri patterns. then i switched on the flame to low flame. finally it worked.

3. Before i used to make single string consistency and it did not work for me. as i said it should be off pisukku padham or sticky sugar syrup consistency.

4. Before i have added rice flour, corn flour, soaked raw rice to the batter to get crispy jangris. without all these jangri came out well today. i consider washing the urad dal well, makes the jangry more crisper. here i reveal my secret for soft idly- i just wash my urad dal once to get soft idly.

Kashmiri Aloo Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 08:08:00 +0000

If you want to make changes in your cooking, change the variety of red chilly you use. I have been trying few dry red chilly and its interesting how it changes the color and taste of the dish. Recently i bought these kashmiri dry red chilly and we love the color it gives. Kashmiri chilly powder available in the markets should plead with these red chilies.

I followed the recipe for Dum aloo, but did not dum cook the curry. It turned out good. The thumb rule to prepare this is you need to use fresh curd rather using sour curd. Lots of spices are part of kashmiri cuisine. Black cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and cumin all give up a great aroma to this curry.

Though the color of the curry looks dark, it is not spicy at all.

Ingredients:

Baby Aloo - 1/2 kg
Fresh Curd - 1 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Garam masla - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - 2 tsp's
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon stick - 1 ' inch
Cloves - 3
Black Cardamom - 2
Corriander leaves - to garnish

For grinding the spices:

Kashmiri Dry Red Chilly - 5
Cardamom - 2
Corriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Cook the baby potatoes in pressure cooker for up to 4 whistles. Oncecooked, peel off its skin and prick them with a fork. Now heat a pan, add 1 tsp of oil and roast the baby potatoes for a minute or two.

2. First Dry roast Kashmiri red chilly, cardamom, corriander seeds and cumin seeds in slow flame till they change into light brown color.

3. Cool and Grind the spices into a fine powder and set aside.

4. Whisk a cup of curd well. add the grounded spice powder, ginger garlic paste and garam masala to the curd and mix well. set this aside.

5. In a Pan, add ghee, when its hot add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cloves.

6. Slow the flame and add in the curd mix. add salt according to your taste. Once the curd is added to the ghee, give a mix. it will look like the curdled. but you need not worry. You can add 1/2 or 1 cup of water based on which consistency you need this curry. Then just simmer the flame and close the pan with its lid for 5 minutes and switch off the flame.

7. Rest the pan for about 5 minutes and then remove the curry from pan to a serving bowl. garnish with corriander leaves.

Notes:

Use Fresh curd to prepare this curry.

If you do not have Kashmiri dry red chilli, add 2 tsp's kashmiri chilly powder.

Egg Cheese Dosa

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 09:01:00 +0000

When i was pregnant with my son i used feel very hungry. i would make one thick egg cheese dosa in 2 minutes and get out of the kitchen. those days i hated to stand near the stove. One thick dosa is well enough for a meal. This egg cheese dosa, ragi adai, chapathi wrap with soy granules and noodles used to be my food during my pregnancy. Now i make these egg cheese dosa for my son after he comes home from school. he likes it very much. This is such a long due recipe from my side.

I made a video after a long time. did not have enough patience to edit much. so kindly bear with this video.

Ingredients:

Dosa Batter - 1 cup
Cheese slice - 1 / Processed cheese - 2 tsp's (grated)
Green chilly - 1(chopped very finely)
Egg - 1

Method:

Beat the egg well and keep aside.

Grease the tawa with a drop of oil and use onion or potato to grease.

Pour the dosa batter and spead the batter. after 30 - 50 seconds, pour the beaten egg over the dosa and tilt the tawa so that egg spreads well. add oil to the sides of dosa and throw in some finely chopped green chillies and cook the dosa on both sides.

If you are using processed cheese, grate it and sprinkle above the egg layer of the dosa. if you are using cheese slices, tear the slices and place over the egg layer of the dosa.

Remove your dosa from tawa and place it on a plate. Fold the dosa when its hot, so that the cheese melts.

Serve egg cheese dosa hot!

Note:

If you are serving for kids, skip the green chilly.

Green Peas Idli

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 07:39:00 +0000

Recently when we went to a restaurant i noticed chilli idly as the days special item. out of curiosity i ordered it. even the person who took the order said me, that its newly introduced and i should try it for sure! I thought it will do for me, so i did not even think of placing order for the other items. So when i saw my chilli idli coming in a small bowl, i was clean bold! It was just 5 mini idli's coated with milagaai podi.

Coming to this Green peas idly, recipe is simple and i am sure kids will love this one. its ideal for the kids lunch box. I used my mini idly plates to make this idly. Mustard tadka add up a taste to these idly. you can skip or reduce green chilies if serving for kids.

Ingredients:

Oil - 1 tsp
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Green chilly - 1 (very finely chopped)
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Idly Batter - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tsp ( to grease idly plate)

Method:

1. First DE-frost the frozen peas or wash and drain the fresh peas and set aside.

2. In a small tadka pan, heat 1 tsp of oil, add mustard and let it pop. then add finely chopped green chilly and saute in low flame. remove the tadka from flame and mix with the green peas.

3. Grease ghee or oil in idly plate. place a spoon of green peas and tadka mixture in idly plates and then pour the idly batter on top of it. steam the idly for 8 - 10 minutes.

Serve these peas idly with chutney of your choice. i served with tomato chutney.

Pudalangai Pachadi ~ Snake gourd raita

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 11:53:00 +0000

Snake gourd is always cooked as kootu at home until i found this recipe. This Raita recipe is simple and also tastes good with just plain rice. When i tried this raita for first time, me and hubby loved it a lot and it was finger-licking delicious!

You can either saute the snake gourd or steam cook and add it later to the curd. What makes this raita different is thick curd and the spiciness of the sauteed green chilies.

Ingredients:

Snake gourd / Pudalangai - 2

Green chilly - 4
Thick Curd - 1 cup

For Tempering:

Oil - 1 tsp

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

Chana dal - 1/2 tsp

Dry red chilly - 2

Curry Leaf - 4

For Dressing (optional)

Oil - 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Wash the snake gourd and slit into half. remove the seeds and chop into small pieces.

Slit the green chilly and chop into fine pieces.

Take a cup of curd and whisk it well with a fork spoon or a whisk. set the curd aside.

Heat a pan, add 1 tsp of oil and add in the chopped snake gourd and green chilies. saute them and close the pan with its lid and let the snake gourd get cooked in slow flame for about 5 minutes.

Now in a small tadka pan, add oil and add the mustard, and let it pop. then add the urad dal, chana dal, dry red chilly and curry leaves. once the dal turn into golden color remove the tadka from fire.

When the pudalangai / snake gourd gets cooked, transfer them to the curd, add the tempering also to the curd. add salt to taste and mix well.

For dressing, add 1/ 2 tsp of oil in tadka pan and add little kashmiri chilly powder. give a mix and sprinkle over the raita.

Serve along with plain rice.

Notes:

Make sure you use thick and fresh curd for this raita.
Chana dal me hard to bite for few, so its optional to add chana dal in tadka.

Podi Idly ~ in a different way

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 14:25:00 +0000

This Podi idly is more for adults, as it has onions and spicy podi spread over the idly. When i saw this podi idly recipe on a TV show, i instantly tried it on the same day. We all found this a different and a tasty way to eat idly, than always opting for chutneys as sides.

One of the reasons for me to resume blogging is because of these cute little bottles gifted to me by my very special friend. she kept on insisting me to get back into blogging. Love you a lot Dear!

My most favorite is podi idly. I was in boarding school for 2 years. Food there will not be tasty. even though we are supposed to eat, whatever is kept on our plate. if we do not eat, we will get punishments like kneeling down or cleaning work on weekends. those days my mom and my ammumma's podi came as a life saver for me. i would eat 3 idly's with my podi.

This podi idly recipe needs onion, podi and ghee. I will share the idly milagaai podi recipe later. but as of now you can try with your idly podi.

Podi Idly

Ingredients:

Ghee / Butter - 1 tsp + 1 tsp
Idly - 3
Big Onion - 1
Idly podi - 3 or 4 tsp's
finely hopped corriander leaves - 2 tsp's (optional)

Method of Preparation:

Heat a dosa tava. add 1 tsp ghee. place the idy in the centre and roast the idly in slow flame for about a minute till you get a light golden crust on the base of idly. likewise flip the idly and roast the other side too. Remove the roasted idly to a plate.

Add 1 tsp of ghee to the tava in slow flame, add finely chopped onions and saute it till it turns translucent.

In slow flame, add in the idly milagaai podi and mix well with the onions. add corriander leaves and mix. This should all get done less than a minute. else the podi and corriander leaves will get browned.

Switch off the flame and spread the onion podi mix over the idly on one side or either side.

Serve the Idly hot. I bet you will like this, if you like podi idly.

Methi Matar Paneer ~ white gravy

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 13:31:00 +0000

This was the long break i took in blogging. I slowly detached myself from this place. I should not have done that, but blame my least interest in cooking. i very rarely tried new dishes in this break. but my blogging aspiration was always there in me. i kept telling me that i should start again. and here i am. Today i want to thank my two friends Sharmilee and Nirmala. They both bothered and asked me to resume blogging. I Owe you both a tight Hug! even my Son asked me to blog. He is proud of me for blogging and keeps checking the site, for the number of visitors and their countries. this way he could recognize few countries flag!

This Methi Paneer is one that was sleeping in my desktop for some time. today when i saw a paneer recipe somewhat similar to this recipe. my interest kindled and here i am sharing it with you all.

Ingredients:

Paneer - 200 gms
Small Methi leaves - 1 small bunch
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1' inch size
Big Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Fresh cream - 1/4 cup

To grind:

Kasa Kasa - 2 tsp's
Cashews - 5

Ghee - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon stick - 1/2 ' inch
Onion - 1
Green Chilly - 2

Method:

Soak the kasa kasa and cashews in warm water for about 30 minutes. Heat a pan, add ghee, cinnamon stick and cardamom. then add sliced onions and green chilly. saute them till the onions turn pinkish.

Cool the sauteed onions and grind it along with soaked kasa kasa and cashew into a thick paste.

In a pan, heat 1 tsp of ghee, add finely chopped ginger and onions. saute them well. Add methi leaves and saute it till it is cooked, it just takes less than a minute to get sauteed. (when i made, i forgot to saute methi leaves, so i added later after adding grounded paste and water. it cooked in 2- 3 minutes)

Now add the Grounded paste and 1/2 a cup of water to the pan. give a good stir. add the green peas and Paneer. let it get cooked in slow flame for about 2 - 3 minutes.

Finally add in the fresh cream and give a mix and remove the pan from flame.

Serve Methi Mattar Paneer with chapathi or with mild flavored rice like jeera pulao or peas pulao.

It is so relieving to blog after all these days. Hope to blog more frequently. i do not want miss this happiness any more.

Dry Stuffed Brinjal Curry ~ ennai kathirikai

noreply@blogger.com (Lavanya Raj) — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 10:57:00 +0000

Brinjal is my favorite. Dry version is what i am making now a days. Mixing this thick curry with hot rice and a tsp of ghee is the best way to eat and relish. To make this curry, you need to pick tender and small purple brinjals. Recently my 6 year old boy started to enjoy this curry. though he felt the curry spicy, he liked the masala stuffed brinjal very much!!

Ingredients:

Purple brinjals - 5

Sesame oil - 2 tbsp

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

For the masala:

Dry roast the following

1 tsp chana dal

1 tsp dhania

1 tbsp groundnuts

1 tbsp dry grated coconut / kopparai

4 dry red chilly

1/2 tsp white sesame seeds

Roast the following:

10 small onions

4 garlic cloves

1 tsp oil

Method:

Wash and dry the brinjals. cut them in x-shape just half through the brinjals. stuff the masala with spoon or with your fingers.

Heat a pan, add 2 tbsp of sesame oil, then add these stuffed brinjals and saute them for at least 5-10 mins in slow flame till the brinjals get semi-cooked.

Once the brinjals are semi-cooked, add in the remaining masala to the pan and mix well with the brinjals. add 1/4 cup of water, salt to taste, turmeric powder and curry leaves.

Close the pan with its lid. let the curry simmer in slow flame for about 10 minutes. once the brinjals are cooked well and the curry is ready to serve.

Best to serve with Hot rice with a tsp of ghee. have appalam along with.

Note:

You can add tamarind water at last and make it as kuzhambu / curry.