My mom made this kootu yesterday and it tasted  really good and yummy. Kootu is  a combo of vegetables and lentils. It’s very easy to make and goes well with rice, vathakuzhambhu, rasam and sambhar. You can make kootu with any kind of vegetables with the same recipe only substituting the main vegetable.  After I go home I think  this  easy recipe is going to make me cook this kootu often. I am learning a lot of new recipes from my mom.

Ingredients:

• Snake Gourd: 2 cups(clean up the seeds inside and chopped into slices)
• Channa dal : 1/4 cup
• oil: 2tbsp
• Onion: 1/2 (medium)
• Tomato : 1
• Ginger : 1/2 tsp
• Green chilies : 5
• Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
• Salt: required to taste
• Coconut : 1/2(shredded)

For Seasonings:

• Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
• Urad dal : 1 tsp
• Curry leaves : 4-5
• Fennel powder : 1 tsp
• Asafoetida : 1/2 tsp

Method of Preparation:

1. Soak  channa dal for 45 minutes and keep them aside.
2. Take a pressure cooker add chopped snake gourd, soaked channa dal, chopped onion,  tomato, green chilies, turmeric powder,salt and chopped ginger.
3. Add enough water(around 1- 11/2 cups of water) to cover the whole vegetables and pressure cook them for 4-5 whistles.
4. Make sure the channa dal is cooked well, if not let it stand on heat for another two whistles.
5. After that open the pressure cooker let it sit on simmer heat and mash  the mixture using wide laddle.
6. Now heat a small pan with 2 tbsp of oil and add all the seasonings after it sputters remove from heat and add into the pressure cooker mixture.
7. Remove the kootu from heat and add the shredded coconut mix it all together and serve it hot.

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Post tags: gravies, side-dish, veggie

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It’s been a long time since I posted a recipe here. It is because I am in INDIA keeping myself occupied. My friend Shriya and I came to India for a long vacation. So I am writing this recipe from India and thought I will start with a sweet. I celebrated Diwali with my family here and had a lots of sweets and savory. Mysore Pak is one of the popular sweet in India. My mother in law makes awesome Mysore Pak every year for Diwali. This time I had a chance to watch her making this sweet. It was simple and yummy. Here you go…

Ingredients:

• Gram flour or Besan  - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1 and 3/4 cup
• Ghee or Clarified butter - 1 and 3/4 cup
• Water - 1 cup

Method of Preparation:

1. Take a square or rectangular plate and grease it with ghee.
2. Heat 1 cup of water in a thick bottomed pan or kadai and add sugar to it.
3. Let it boil till it becomes sticky/viscous.
4. Now add the gram flour to it and mix well.
5. Keep stirring till the gram flour gets completely mixed with the sugar syrup.
6. Now heat ghee in a separate pan.
7. Add the hot ghee to the gram flour mixture. You can see the formation of froth while adding ghee.
8. Add all the ghee slowly and keep stirring till the ghee separates from the mixture.
9. You can also see that the mixture leaving the edges of the pan.
10. Now add the mixture to the greased plate and cut into square pieces.

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This recipe  is from my sister’s (Suja’s) kitchen. She made this spicy macroni for her 4 years old son.

It’s no secret kids love Macaroni & Cheese like it’s the next best thing to chocolate. But, how do we get them to eat veggies. My sis tricks my nephew by adding a lot of vegetables and spicing up the Macaroni and creating this tasty dish.

Spicy Macaroni is very easy to make and it can be made for dinner or even as an evening snack.

Ingredients:

• Oil : 2 tbsp
• Onion : 1
• Tomato : 1
• Green chilies : 3-4 (according to your spice level)
• Garlic : 3 (chopped)
• Ginger : 1tsp (chopped)
• Garam masala : 1 tbsp
• Maggi masala Powder : 1 tbsp(optional)
• salt : required to taste
• Vegetables: 1 cup(I’ve added bell pepper, green peas and carrots)
• Macroni : 1 cup

Method of Preparation :

1. Boil the vegetables in a separate pan  drain them and keep them aside.
2. Boil the Macaroni with a tbsp of oil. Wash it in cold water and keep them aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan add onions fry them till it becomes translucent.
4. After that add green chilies,chopped garlic and ginger mix it all well cook them for 2-3 mins.
5. Then add salt and tomatoes, cook them till tomatoes get mashed.
6. Add a tbsp of garam masala fry them till the raw smell goes off.
7. And if you have maggi masala powder you can substitute it instead of garam masala, it tastesreally good.
8. Now add the boiled vegetbles and macroni mix it all together gently without breaking the macroni and let it stand on the simmer heat for 4-5 minutes.
9. After that remove from heat and serve it hot.

Hope you and your kids enjoy this recipe. Let me know in the comments if you tried this recipe and even gave it your own little twist.

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Post tags: dinner

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I am going to be celebrating Diwali in India with my family after 4 years and I am so excited. Just getting used to the jetlag and I am happy to be spending time with my family.

So, here is my first post from India although I made this for Karthik before I left.

For those unfamiliar, Meen Kuzhanbu is the Tamil name for traditional South Indian Fish Curry. It is very rich in flavor, spicy and  tastes heavenly. And it is a common saying that it tastes better the day after you make it as the spices get deep into the fish as it sits around. I made this with Salmon filets but catfish tastes great as well. In South India, this is made with locally popular fish like Sankara, Vavval, etc.

Ingredients:

• Sesame oil :  3 tbsp
• Vegetable oil : 2 tbsp
• Fenugree k Seeds : 1/4 tsp
• Vadagam: 11/2 tbsp (Optional)
• Fish : 1lb(Cleaned and cut it into your desired shape)(I’ve used salmon)
• Onion : 1 (Medium Finally chopped)f
• Tomatoes : 2
• Garlic : 8-10
• Curry Leaves : 5-6 springs
• Chili powder : 1/2 tbsp(according to your spice level)
• Coriander Powder : 1 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp
• Tamarind Pulp : 11/2 tbsp

Method of Preparation:

1. Wash and clean the fish. Cut them into pieces. Dust them with a little salt and keep them aside.
2. Now just microwave the tamarind pulp with 1 cup of water for 30 seconds or soak them for an 5-10minutes. Mash it well and strain the tamarind water.
3. Now add red chili powder, salt, coriander powder and turmeric powder into the tamarind water.
4. Mix it all together in this step itself.  You can taste and adjust the sour and spicy consistency from the above mixture.
5. Now take a wide pan add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil add fenugreek seeds, vadagam(optional), garlic pods, fry them for a minute.
6. After that add onions, curry leaves sautee it very well.
7. Once the onion becomes translucent add the chopped tomatoes and the tamarind water mixture into it.
8. Taste the salt and adjust according to it.
9. Add 2 tbsp of sesame oil and bring it to boil  in medium heat till the oil floats on top.
10. The gravy  should taste little sour and spicy.
11. Finally add the fish and just bring it to a boil only once and remove from heat.
12. Garnish with fried curry leaves.

Fish kozhambhu is ready and if you eat it next day it tastes like heaven because the fish get soaked in the gravy.

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Murukku is one of the most popular snacks in South India and it is even more popular at Deepavali (aka Diwali) festival time. It has been long been the tradition at most homes to make delicious snacks such as Murukku, Thattai, etc. along with some special Indian sweets for Deepavali.

I am going to be spending over 3 months with my family in India starting next week. But, don’t you worry! I am going to learn, experiment and continue making more variety of Indian dishes and will be sharing my experiences and recipes in the coming months straight from India! So stay tuned.

So, I wanted to make some special Diwali snacks for my hubby and made Murukku. It came out very nice (as you can see), crunchy and tasty.

Although like most things we haven’t tried, making Murukku seemed very hard to me but once I made it I couldn’t believe how simple it was. Just try out this recipe and make your own little changes to it and you could end up with a snack that’s going to win your husband’s and your kids (if you have any) hearts.

Special note: You need a Murukku mold as mentioned in Step 8 to make this.

Ingredients:

• Rice flour : 1 cup
• Urad flour : 1/4 cup
• Split chick peas : 2 tbsp
• Butter : 2 tbsp(room temperature)
• Sesame seeds : 1 tsp
• Hing/Asafoetida : 1/4 tsp
• Cumin seeds : 1 tsp
• Red chili powder : 2 tsp (optional)
• Curry Leaves : 5-6 (chopped)(optional)
• Water : as needed for consistency
• Salt : required to taste (1/2 tbsp should be good)

Method of preparation:

1. Dry roast the rice flour and urad flour separately  for 2 minutes each. Make sure both the flours are  just warm and not burnt.
2. Grind the split chick peas and make it into a smooth powder.
3. And two tbsps of water, then the salt and asafoetida.
4. Mix them well and keep it aside.
5. Fry the sesame seeds till it sputters completely and remove from heat. (be careful as they tend to sputter wildly)
6. Take a wide pan and add all the flours, butter, sesame seeds, asafoetida & salt mixture and cumin seeds.



7. Slowly add water to knead it into a tight and stiff dough.



8. Now comes the fun part you need a Muruku mold to make this, There are different attachments comes with a murukku maker (just like the food processor attachment). I’ve used the single star attachment to make this murukku but you can use three star to make a different shape.
9. Now take a small amount of dough and put it in the maker and close the maker.
10. Take an  aluminum foil or Ziploc bags with some oil brushed on it.



11. Start pressing the mould and slowly rotate the maker into a circle shape till you form a medium sized  spirals as shown in pic.
12. Now heat oil in a pan when its hot enough to deep fry it add the murukku one by one( just lift the murukku gently from the foil by using your hand and slowly drop it in the oil or you can just put it in a wide spatula and drop it in the oil).



13. Deep fry until it becomes  golden brown and remove from heat.
14. Let it cool for few minutes and store it in a air tight container.

Now, you can also enjoy this tasty Diwali snack right in your home and proudly announce that the chef of the house has mastered a new dish!

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Post tags: appetizers, festival-snacks, fried, side-dishes

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Chole Bhatura is a mouth watering dish and is the bigger cousin of a well-known Indian breakfast dish - Poori. Chole Bhatura is a combination of Chick Peas dish (chole) and the fried bread made from maida flour (bhatura).

My memory of Chole Bhatura growing up in South India has been that it is one of those exotic dishes that you can eat at a restaurant. I still remember the big puffed up dish served hot with fresh cut onions and a sliver of lime.

It turns out that even though it takes a little bit of time, Chole Bhatura can be made at home! And I am here to share that secret with you. Although I have to give a special mention to our friend Archie, who gave away his secret to making the perfect Bhatura! Read on..

Ingredients:

Bhatura Recipe:

• Maida : 2 cups
• yogurt : 3 tbsp
• Sooji/Semolina : 2 tbsp
• Egg : 1 large (optional)
• salt : 2 tsp
• Baking Powder : 1 tsp

Chole  Curry Recipe:

• Chick peas/Channa : 2 cups (soak it in overnight or soak in hot water for 2 hrs and pressure cooker )
• Onions : 2 (medium)
• Oil : 3 tbsp
• Curry leaves : 5-6
• Green chilies : 4
• Tomato : 1/2
• Ginger and Garlic paste : 1  tbsp
• Red chili powder : 1 1/2 tbsp
• Coriander seeds : 1 tbsp
• Garam masala Powder : 1/2 tbsp
• Chole masala : 2 tbsp (optional if you have any instant masala powder)
• Coriander leaves : 2 tbsp

Method Of Preparation:

Batura :

1. Take a wide vessel add maida, yogurt , salt, sooji/semolina, baking powder, egg (whisk lightly), and slowly add some warm water (Enough to knead the dough) and make a soft dough.
2. Cover the dough with some  wet cloth and keep it aside in warm place for fermentation. (about 3-4 hours)
3. After that divide the dough into 12-14 equal portions and roll them into smooth balls.
4. And  roll the small balls individually into big sized puri.
5. Choose a thick-bottomed pot and heat oil in it for deep frying.
6. Make sure the oil is medium hot - you could drop a little dough to check this.
7. Now gently slide the flattened Batura dough into the oil and gently press the batura in the center and along the edges into the oil with the back of a spoon/ladle.
8. This should make it puff up nicely. Once its golden brown, turn it over and do the same.
9. Make sure you have enough heat to cook the insides but high heat will just turn it into a dark color. The right medium heat is the key here.
10. Serve it hot with chole masala.

Chole Curry:

1. Take 1/4 cup of the pressure cooked channa and just pulse it in the blender and keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan add bay leaves , cloves and cinnamon after that add onions and fry them till it becomes lightly brown.
3. Add green chilies, curry leaves and ginger garlic paste mix it all together fry them till the raw smell goes off and add the tomatoes now .
4. Just mash it and add salt , turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder and  chole masala(optional)  mix it all together.
5. Let it sit in the heat fry them till it becomes dry and the  masala smell goes off.
6. After that add ground channa and the remaining whole channa mix it all well and cook in medium heat for 5- 10 minutes.
7. Finally add the coriander leaves toss it all together and remove from heat.
8. Serve hot with bhatura and lime

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Post tags: breakfast, curry, dinner, veggies

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I  got this recipe from my sister. She used to make it for special ocassions and “Paal Kozhukatai” is one of my favorite recipes from her kitchen. As many other not so often made dishes, I’ve always thought it would be pretty tough to make it. But I finally decided to make it on Gokulashtami (an Indian festival) and it came out really awesome. And its not at all tough to make. It just took like 30-40 minutes for me to make this lovely dessert. Hope you enjoy making this recipe.

Ingredients:

• Rice flour: 1 cup
• Coconut milk : 1 cup
• water :1 cup
• Milk : 1/2 cup
• cardamom : 5-6 (crushed)
• saffron : a pinch
• Sugar : 1/2 cup (according to your sweet level)

Method Of Preparation:

1. Take a cup of rice flour in a pan and add 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of milk (I’ve used 2% milk). Gently mix it all together.
2. Heat the batter in medium flame and keep stirring the batter to avoid any lumps.
3. When the consistency of batter becomes thick enough to make a dough, remove from heat.
4. When it’s cool, add 2 tsp of ghee and 2 tsp of oil and knead it into a soft dough.
5. Now make a thin cylinder shape or any shape you want by rolling in between your palms out of the dough.
6. Heat a cup of coconut milk in a pan, add sugar and the rolls or balls one by one into the milk.
7. When the rolls starts to float on top, add cardamom and saffron.
8. Remove from heat and serve it hot or cold.

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Post tags: desserts, sweets

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Today is Gokulashtami. This festival is celebrated for lord krishna and it’s his birthday.  This festival is called in different names as “krishna jayanthi”, “krishnashtami”,” sri jayanthi” and “janma ashtami”. Last year my Mother-in-Law was here with us so she made it easy for me. This year I tried out my family recipes for the festival. This is one of the most popular festival in India. Today I made “paal kozhukatai/Sweet Rice Pudding”, Vella Seedai/Sweet marbles”, “Sundal/chick Peas Fry”, “Medhu vadai”. I was planning to make two more dishes but I don’t have time to do it.

Now  I am sharing the Vella seedai(Sweet marbles) recipe here. This dish is used to make especially for the Gokulashtami festival. This is pretty popular snack in South India. I got this recipe from my sister and this is the first time I tried it and you know what it came out really really good. And this is one of the easiest snack you can make it at anytime.

Ingredients:

• Rice flour: 1 cup
• Urad flour: 2 tsp
• Jaggery : 1/4 cup
• Cardamoms: 5
• Shredded Coconut : 2tsp
• Sesame Seeds : 1/2 tsp (I’ve used Brown sesame seeds)

Method Of Preparation:

1. Melt the jaggery with 1/2 cup of water  and make it into syrup and keep them aside.
2. Heat the pan and roast the rice flour and urad flour slightly for about 3 minutes in medium heat.
3. Now add the jaggery water into the roasted flour (don’t remove the flours from heat let it sit in medium heat ) and stir for 1- 2 minutes and then remove from heat.
4. Now mix the flour in that pan itself , add sesame seeds, shredded coconut and mix them all well.
5. Make it into a loose dough the consistency should be soft not thick.
6. Now allow the flour to cool.ou
7. After few minutes make the dough into small balls ( as shown in pic ) . You can rub your hand with ghee and make small balls in same size.
8. Then  heat oil in a wide pan and deep fry the balls

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Post tags: desserts, sweets

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Macys offer  this  tools of trade basics 10-piece measure and prep set for 9.99$ with shipping or in store pickup. It Includes a mixing bowl, 4 measuring cups and 5 measuring spoons.

Macys also offer this Tools of the Trade Basics Starter 12-Piece Cookware Set for 59.99$ with shipping or instore pickup. It includes

• 1- and 2-qt. covered saucepan, 6.5-qt. covered stock pot, 10″ covered fry pan, 8″ open fry pan and three nylon utensils – slotted spoon, spoon and pasta fork
• Safe for electric, gas, induction and glass stoves
• Oven safe up to 300 degrees
• Dishwasher safe.

If you are looking for some simple starter cookware kit, this is a best set for you.

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I just came to know that there is a Semi Annual Home Sale going on in Macy’s and I am listing a couple of deals that caught my eyes.

Martha Stewart Collection 20-Piece Essential Cutlery Set for $39.99

The ratings are also good. Limited lifetime warranty. It is really a good set of knife. I am going to rush before it is sold out. I hope you like this deal.

Bella Cucina 13330 Rocket Blender, 12 Piece for $19.99

I have a blender which has 17 piece. But I am telling you by experience that 12 piece is more than enough. So don’t miss this excellent deal from Macy’s.

Please check here for other good kitchen deals. We hope this is helpful to you.

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