Venthaya Rasam

Preparation:

In heated oil + mustard seeds(1/4 tsp) + venthayam (1/2 tsp) + thuvaram parupu(1 tsp) + urad dhal (1 tsp) + saunf pdr (1/4 tsp) + 1/4 onion or 2 shallots + curry leaves + tamarind water (lemon size)+ rice soaked water (1 cup) + chilli pdr (1/4 tsp) + tur.pdr (a pinch) + salt + corriander leaves.

Rice Thepla

One of the best avartars of leftover rice is Rice Thepla...which is similar to Adai...Have done this long back, but the credit for pulling this back to my memories goes to one of those south indian cooking shows "samayal samayal" which was telecasted in Vijay TV. Thanx to 'em...n time to move on with the recipe :)

Ingredients:

• Leftover rice - 1 cup
• Besan flour - 1 tbsp
• Wheat flour - 1 .5 tbsp
• Finely chopped ginger - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Salt - as req
• Turmeric pdr - a pinch
• Green chilli - finely chopped 1
• Coriander leaves - finely chopped
• Oil - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

To the leftover rice, add the below ingredients : 1 tbsp besan flour, 1.5 tbsps of wheat flour, finely chopped green chilli, finely grated ginger, turmeric pdr a pinch, salt as req, corriander leaves finely chopped, cumin seeds - 1 tsp, oil -  1tbsp. Mix all the above with the rice well. Add water to make it to a soft dough. On the tava, put a ball of the rice and then spread it from the center towards the sides using ur hands...yeah, u can juz spread it with ur hands...Pour oil to the sides of the thepla. Flip the side once it turns a lil brown. Cook the second side too. Your Crunchy Rice Thepla is ready to be served with some nice chutney.

Will post the best chutney for this soon and link it  back to this post.

Eggy Shrimp Ginger Curry

Ingredients:

For Marination:

• Shrimp - 25 nos
• Soysauce - 1 tbsp
• Vinegar - 1 tbsp
• salt - very lil
• Cornflour - 1 tsp

Other Ingredients:

• Eggs
• Capsicum
• Finely grated or chopped ginger
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• Onion - 1 medium
• Green Chilli - 1 or 2
• Coriander - 1 tbsp
• salt
• Pepper pdr - 1 tsp
• Lemon juice - a splash

Preparation:

Grind Onion, green chilli and coriander leaves to a paste.

Boiled eggs and keep aside.

Marinate shrimp in soy sauce, vinegar, cornflour, salt for 20 minutes

To heated oil add capsicum, finely grated or chopped ginger (add as much as u want). Then add some ginger garlic paste. Saute till the raw smell from the garlic leaves. Then add already ground onion paste. "ONLY" after the raw smell of the onion leaves, add the marinated shrimp to the curry, salt and cook for another 5 minutes on medium flame. Couple of minutes before you switch off the flame, add the boiled eggs to the curry (itz ur choice to make vertical slits on 'em)

Just before switching off the flame add pepper pdr to the curry and also add a splash of lemon juice.

Carrot Uttapam

Ingredients Needed :

• Carrots - 2
• Onions - 1
• Dosa Batter - 2 cups
• Salt - 1/4 tsp.
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp.
• Urid dhal - 1/4 tsp.
• Green Chilli -1
• Oil

Method :

Peel the carrot skin , and grate it .Chop onions + green chillies finely. In a kadai add little oil and temper mustard seeds + urid dhal and then ,add onions and fry well then add grated carrot + green chilli + salt and fry for few more mins.now add this onion + carrot mixture to the dosa batter and add little water and mix well. Heat the tawa and pour a laddle batter , and spread it , slightly thicker in size , either in medium or small size dosas add little oil and fry it on both the sides. Serve this uttapam with chutney , sambhar or Iddli podi.

Got this recipe from my friend Padma.

Apple Jam

Ingredients Needed :

• Apple - 3 (Medium sized)
• Sugar - 1 cups
• Jaggery - Little

Method :

Cut Apple into small cubes. In a pan, add apple cubes + water and cook till it gets soft . Remove from heat and allow this to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.Drain the excess water and grind the cooked apple cubes in a blender nicely add Sugar + jaggery and little water and dissolve sugar and jaggery well , Keep the stove in medium heat. Stir this mix frequently , till it becomes thick. This may take 20 to 25 minutes. Then remove from heat and let it cool completely. Then store the jam in jars and refrigerate.

Agathi keerai Sambhar

Ingredients Needed :

• Agathi Keerai - 1/2 bunch
• Small Onions - 10 - 15
• Cooked Moong dhal - 1/2 cup
• Tamarind - little
• Sambhar powder - as reqd.
• Salt - as reqd.
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Urid dhal - 1/4 tsp
• Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Hing powder - 1/4 tsp.
• Oil - 2 tsp.

Method :

Clean and remove the leaves from the stem and keep it aside. In a Kadai Oil and temper with mustard seed + urid dhal + Hing and then add onions and fry well for few mins , then add the agathi keerai and fry for few more mins. now add tamarind juice + salt + sambhar powder and allow it to boil well. Once the sambhar gets thick add cooked moong dhal and boil it for few more mins. Once it gets thicker , switch off the gas.

Note : U can also use Toor dhal and do the sambhar.

Green Beans Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• Oil
• Garlic pods - 2
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Green beans - 20 nos
• Chilli pdr - 1 tsp
• CUmin pdr - 1 tbsp
• Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
• salt - as req

Preparation:

To heated oil, add some cumin seeds. once the seeds splutter add finely chopped garlic pods and green beans. Add spices like chilli pdr, cumin pdr, garam masala and salt.Cook it with very lil water. Once almost all the water has evaporated and the beans is well cooked with the spices, switch off the flame. Easy healthy Green beans stir fry is ready to be served.

Chicken Keema

Ingredients:

• Chicken (ground chicken or whole)
• Onion - 1 medium
• Ginger - 1 inch
• Garlic - 5 pods
• Green chilli - 3
• Turmeric pdr - 1/4 tsp
• Cumin pdr - 1 tsp
• Coriander pdr - 1 tsp
• Garam masala  - 1tsp
• salt - as req
• Chilli pdr - 1tsp
• Chicken masala - 1 tsp
• Pepper pdr - 1/2 tsp
• water 

Preparation:

Chop chicken or use ground chicken. Also chop onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies into fine pieces without adding any water.

To the heated oil, add cumin seeds + fennel seeds + curry leaves. Add the finely chopped ginger, green chillies, garlic and salt as req. Saute for a couple of minutes and then add the chicken and fry. Add spices of ur choice. I added turmeric pdr, chilli pdr, cumin pdr, corriander pdr, garam masala and some chicken masala. Add very lil water and cook on low medium heat. Fry till the chicken gets well cooked.

Brown Rice Banana Pudding

Ingredients:

• Brown Rice(u can also substiture this for white rice, thou brown rice is more healthier) - 1/2 cup
• Water for soaking brown rice - 1.5 cups
• Whole milk - 1 cup
• Cream (I used half-and-half) - 1 cup(If you dont have cream, then add 2 cups of milk)
• cardamom pdr - 1tsp
• Sugar - as req (Also add lil brown sugar if u have it in stock)
• Banana Slices - 1 
• Cashews - 5
• Raisins - 5
• Ghee for frying Cashews and raisins - 1 tsp

Preparation:

Grind Brown rice without adding any water. Itz basically to break down the rices to smaller size. Soak this in 1.5 cup of water for half an hour and then cook in microwave on High power for 10-15 mins. Once the rice gets well cooked, add 1 cup of whole milk and 1 cup of cream(I used half-and-half). Cook this in MW for another 5 mins. Add sugar(as req)...I added a lil of brown sugar too which is optional. Add a tsp of cardamom pdr and banana slices. If you do not have cardamom pdr in stock then grind cardamom with some sugar to get cardamom pdr.

In a separate boil, fry some cashews, raisins. Add this to the pudding.

Yummy sweet Brown Rice Banana Pudding can be served hot or cold.

Masala Vada

Ingredients:

• Channa Dhal - 1 cup
• Green Chillies or Dry red Chillies -2
• Onion - 1 medium
• Garlic pods - 2 - finely chopped
• Coriander leaves
• Curry leaves
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Salt  - as req
• Oil - for deep frying the vadas

Preparation:

Soak Channa Dhal in water for an hour and then grind it without adding any water to almost paste consistency. Add green chillies or dry red chillies to the channa dhal when grinding.

To the ground paste add finely chopped onion, chopped garlic pods, coriander leaves, curry leaves, cumin seeds, salt. Then make round balls out of it making it a lil flate in the center(to the shape of the vada). Deep fry these in heated oil.

Crunchy Masala vadas are ready to be served.

Agathi keerai Poriyal

Ingredients needed :

• Agathi keerai - 1/2 bunch
• Onion - 1
• Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp.
• Jeera - 1/4 tsp
• Urid dhal - 1/4 tsp.
• Channa dhal - 1/4 tsp. (Optional)
• Dried Red chilli - 1
• Salt - little
• Oil - 1/4 tsp.

Method :

Remove all the leaves from the stem and clean it and keep it aside in a kadai add oil and temper it with mustard seeds + Jeera + urid dhal + channa dhal + red chilli + Onions + salt and fry well then add the leaves and fry well .

Healthy and tasty Agathi keerai poriyal is ready .

To know the benefits of Agathi Keerai check Kavitha's health Blog :

http://i-o-beauty.blogspot.com/2009/03/agathi-keerai-benefits.html

Baked Chicken Meatballs

This is one of those posts which have been lying around for a while inspite of the gud comments it got from hubby dear...Shud I say I was too lazy enough to pen down the details or was I too immersed with my other recipes ...hmm...since the second option sounds in favour for me, i wil go with the later ;)

Before proceeding with the recipe, I've got a special thanx which is to be delivered to my dear buddy "Athi"..yeah, the reason behind the thanx being, for pushing me to write down the recipe :) nt sure if i wud hav made it up to this point if nt for her asking me...Thanx Athi...otherwise I wud have totally forgotten abt tis and one fine day have no trace of how I came up with this dish...tatz hw i miss most of the yummy dishes details :(

Ingredients:

• Ground Chicken - 1 packet (You can also grind the chicken if u cannot catch hold of ground chicken in store)
• Spices of ur choice (Have listed wat i've listed in the recipe)
• Egg - 1
• Finely Grated parmesan
• Dry Basil - 1 tsp
• Oil
• Coriander leaves
• Finely chopped garlic - 5

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

To the ground chicken, add spices of ur choice. I used turmeric pdr, salt, pepper pdr, cumin pdr, corriander pdr, red chilli pdr, garam masala. Add some finely chopped garlic, coriander leaves,egg, finely grated parmesan,dry basil to the ground meat. Knead it for a few minutes. Add a lil oil to the meat and then make round balls from it.

In a baking sheet apply some oil, and place the ground chicken balls on it. Spray some oil over the balls finally and then bake them in the oven till the color turns golden brown.

Shrimp Kababs

Ingredients:

• Shrimp - 15
• Capsicum - 1/2 of medium
• Onion - 1/2 of medium
• Olive - 10
• Soysauce - 1 tbsp
• Chilli sauce - 1tsp
• Mustard sauce - 1 tsp
• salt - as req
• Pepper pdr - as req
• Kabab Stick
• Lemon Juice - 1tsp

Preparation:

Marinate cleaned, deveined shrimp, capsicum, olive, onion (veggies shud be cut in large slices) in soysauce, salt, pepper pdr, mustard sauce, chilli sauce, lemon juice for 15 minutes.

Then in the kabab stick insert them in any order as u wish. To the end of the stick, roll some foil paper for holding the kabab. All you have to do now is grill it and then munch it :)

Pavakkai Masala Curry

Ingredients needed :

• Pavakkai / Bittergourd - 2
• Onions -2
• Tomato -2
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
• Jeera powder - 1/4 tsp.
• Dhaniya Powder - 1/4 tsp.
• Salt - as reqd
• Oil - little

Method :

Chop Onions and tomatoes and grind it into thick paste. Cut bittergourd / pavakkai in thin slices (in round shape) in a vessel add little water + pavakkai and boil it for 5 to 10 mins. In a bowl add the onion & tomato paste + salt + chillipowder + jeera powder + dhaniya powder and mix well and then add the boiled pavakkai pieces and allow it to marinate for 30 mins.then shallow fry the pavakkai pieces on both sides in low flame till done

Spicy masala Pavakkai curry is ready.

Tomato Onion chutney

This is yet another recipe which is being sent to the "Fall in Love(FIL) with Food - Tomato" event hosted by Sanghi. As mentioned in the guidelines, since I've gotto dedicate it to someone close to my heart, time to think whom I'm gonna dedicate tis one to...The first recipe which I sent to this event, "Tomato Rice" was dedicated to my Mom...bt tis one is for hubby dear...yeah, u heard it rite...HUBBY DEAR is wat i said :) Reason for the dedication...hmm...no one can say tat i'm being unreasonable in dedicating this recipe to him..cos tis one was prepared by him.. :) hez a specialist in tis dip..soooo much of taste adds to the chutney wen he does tis..hahahaha...i giv this as a reason wenever i feel bored to cook ;) well on a serious note, hubby dear was famous among his frnz for preparing this recipe wen he was bachelor...his frnz still mention this special chutney preparation of his during their lovely days together... Another important thing abt this chutney is it has more shelflife and can be carried when travelling...It goes excellent with Rotis and also can be had mixed with boiled white rice. Having narrated such a big story abt the dish, time to move on with the recipe.. :D

Ingredients:

• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Garlic - 5
• Ginger - an almost equal qty to garlic
• Salt
• Onion - 2 medium
• Tomato - 4 medium
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Turmeric pdr - 1/4 tsp
• Red Chilli pdr - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

In heated oil, add mustard seeds. Once the seeds splutter, add finely chopped garlic and ginger.Then add finely chopped onion and saute till they become golden brown. Add gg paste now and saute till the raw smell leaves. Then add finely chopped Mr.Toms...yeah, our very own Tomatoes. After the tomatoes becomes mushy add turmeric pdr,salt, red chilli pdr.

Event Logo:

This recipe is being sent also to one more event "Meals on Wheels" which is hosted on "Taste of Mysore". Event Logo is :

Banana Dosa

Ingredients:

• APF (All Purpose Flour) - 1/4 cup
• Rice Flour - 1/2 cup
• Bananas - 4 or 5 mashed
• Sugar - as req (You can also add some brown sugar)
• cardamom Pdr - 1/4 tsp
• Milk - 1.5 cups
• Ghee

Preparation:

This is basically the way how I do a sweet called "Gajayam"...made a lil twist to it making it take a new avatar as banana dosa and my lil one loved it :)

Mix the above listed ingredients except ghee to make a batter. The batter should be in a lil thicker consistency than the regular dosa batter.

Heat the grill such that it is not too hot. The flame should be on medium. Once the grill is hot, put the batter on it and then pour some ghee around it. Your chweet tasty banana dosas are ready to be served.

This recipe goes to event "Tasty Bites for Toddlers".

Tomato Rice

This Tomato Rice post goes to event "FALL IN LOVE(FIL) WITH FOOD" hosted by Sanghi in her Sanghi's World Food Treat

Itz been almost a month since she had hosted this event and thou nt sure if she has her event still open for recipes, I'm sending this across to her...Hope it reaches her on time :)

Well, she had asked to dedicate this dish with the special ingredient as "Mr.Tom" to someone close to heart. Hmm...many people crossed my mind on hearing the word dedication, first on the list being hubby dear..But wat connection does he have for me to dedicate something like this to him...n tat too coming to this dish, no way is he related than tasting it :) i don't think that makes him a deserving candidate of the lot...wat say guys..

The person whom I dedicate this dish is to my Mom, who is my guru for this recipe. Itz she who taught this fav dish of mine, so no second thoughts abt the dedication. This is the least I can do for her sitting soooo far away from home sweet home..Talking abt the dish and my mom, brings so many memories connected with it, all fresh now n forever. Mom was an expert in this dish, which I shud admit thou is very simple, gets an extra taste when she does it, a taste which I've tried helluva times to get, but never succeeded...It was one of my fav's...Thou my bro loved it too, he always preferred Tomato Pulav, which I have already posted in my blog to this dish.. So she wud always get into trouble when she plans to make a variety rice with tomato..it was like a fight between Tomato Rice and Tomato Pulav...being chweet as she is always, she wud finally end up making both, one for my bro n the other for me...tatz mom...Missing the fun and u mummy......Wish you were near me to support me @ all times, thick n thin....Love ya loads !!!

Ingredients:

• oil - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Onion - 1 medium
• Green chilli - 1 or 2
• Capsicum (opt) - 1/4 of medium
• Channa Dhal - 1 tsp
• Garlic pods - 3
• Tomatoes - 3 medium
• Turmeric pdr - 1/4 tsp
• Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
• salt - as req
• Rice - 1 cup
• Coriander leaves - for garnish

Preparation:

First Cook rice and keep it aside.

In heated oil, add mustard seeds + cumin seeds. Once the seeds splutter add onion + green chilli(i also added some capsicum for color and crunchiness in the rice) + channa dhal + finely chopped garlic pods. Saute till the onion turns translucent. Then add tomatoes and cook them on medium flame till they become completely mushy. During the midst of this, you can add turmeric pdr, garam masala, salt. After the masala becomes completely mushy, switch off the flame and add the cooked rice to it. Mix it well, such the masala coats every single rice. Sprinkle some coriander leaves as garnish.

FIL - Tomato Event Logo:

Potato Capsicum Peas Curry

Ingredients needed :

• Capsicum - 1
• Potato - 2 or 3 (Medium size)
• Peas - 1 cup
• Onion - 2
• Tomato - 2
• Chilli Powder - 1 tsp.
• Dhaniya powder - 1/2 tsp.
• Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp.
• Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
• Cloves - 3
• Salt - as reqd.
• Corriander leaves - little
• Oil - 2 tsp.

Method :

Soak peas overnight and pressure cook it till done , but not mushy. Clean and cut capsicum + potato into medium size pieces .Chop onions and tomato finely .


In a kadai add 2 tsp. oil and add cloves + onions + salt and fry well add capsicum and fry for few mins , then add tomato + potato + peas add chilli powder + jeera powder + dhaniya powder + cinnamon powder and add water little and cook well. Once it is done , switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves

Serve hot with rotis .

(got this recipe from Padma.)

Elisseri - Snake Gourd Curry

Ingredients:

• Coconut - 1/4 cup(Fresh or frozen)
• red chilli - 3
• Cumin seeds - 1.5 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
• salt - as req
• tur Dhal - 1/2 cup
• Snake gourd - 1 
• Turmeric pdr - 1/4 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves 
• oil
• Hing pdr - a pinch
• Onion - 1/4 of medium
• Coriander leaves for garnish

Preparation:

Grind Coconut, Red Chilli (2), Cumin seeds(1 tsp) and Fenugreek Seeds(1/2 tsp) to a paste.

In a pressure cooker, cook ½ cup of Tur dhal +1 snake gourd finely chopped + ½ tsp turmeric pdr + salt(add lil, u can always change it as req later). Cook for 2- 3 whistles and then switch off the flame. Once the pressure leaves, open the cooker and on a medium flame add the already grounded paste. Once the curry reaches a lil thicker consistency, add the below seasonings to it...

Seasoning : To oil (preferrably coconut oil), add mustard seeds, cumin seeds (1/2 tsp), curry leaves, red chilli (1), hing pdr, 1/4 onion or 2 pearl onions finely chopped.saute till translucent and then add it to the above curry.

Finally garnish with some coriander leaves.

Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:

• Peppercorns - 30 nos
• Aniseed (Sombu) - 1 tbsp
• Cloves - 5
• Ginger - 1 inch
• Garlic - 5 cloves
• Chicken
• salt
• onion - 1 large

Preparation:

Grind peppercorns, Sombu , Cloves, Ginger and garlic to a paste.

In heated oil, add onion and saute till it turns golden brown. Then add the grinded masala. After sauteing for a minute add the chicken pieces and salt. Saute for a couple of minutes and then add water and cook closed for 15 mins minimum. Cook till there is no water left and then before switching off cook on low flame for 5 mins.

This recipe is sent to the event " Think spice...Think pepper" event hosted by DV :)

Vallarai keerai Thogayal

Ingredients needed :

• Vallarai Keerai - 2 bunches
• Urid dhal - 2 tsp.
• Channa dhal - 2 tsp.
• Small onion - 4 or 5
• Dried Red chillies - 3 or 4
• Oil - 1 tsp.
• Hing powder - little
• Salt - as per reqd.

Method :

Remove the leaves from the stem , wash and clean it and set aside. In a kadai add 1/2 tsp oil and add urid dhal +channa dhal + red chillies and fry till it turns into light brown colour , and set aside then add onions and fry that also and set aside. Now fry the leaves well , and allow it to cool well then in a mixer, grind all the ingredients by adding hing powder + salt into coarse paste. In the kadai add little oil and temper it with mustard and fry this paste again for a min. Vallarai thogayal is ready and we can mix with hot rice and have it If u r not using onions then u can add very little tamarind and then grind it.

check out for the benefis of vallarai keerai in Kavitha's health blog :

http://i-o-beauty.blogspot.com/2009/03/benefits-of-vallarai-keerai.html

Spinach Soya Dry Curry

Ingredients:

• Soya - 20 nos.
• Oil
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Red Chilli - 1
• Onion - 1/2 of medium
• Tomato - 2 medium
• Spinach - 1 cup
• Turmeric pdr - 1/4 tsp
• Cumin pdr - 1/2 tsp
• Corriander pdr - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli pdr - 1 tsp
• Soy sauce - 1 tsp
• Salt - as req
• water - if req ( very lil)

Preparation:

Cook soya for 5 minutes in salted water. Drain the water and keep it aside.

To heated oil, add cumin seeds. Once they splutter add a dry red chilli, finely sliced onion. saute till the onion becomes translucent. Then add tomatoes and when they mashed well add spinach. Saute till it gets cooked, which should ideally take another couple of minutes. Then add the already cooked soya to the curry. Time for spices. Add turmeric pdr, garam masala, cumin pdr, corriander pdr, red chilli pdr, salt and then finally add a splash of soy sauce(opt). At any point of time to avoid burning, add lil water.

Your Spinach soya dry curry is ready to be served with Rice.

Mixed Veggie Coconut Rice

This recipe was given by my mom who mentioned that she came across this easy variety rice preparation in some television. Since she was not sure which TV programme it was, I could not mention it in the post. Anyways, the recipe sure have lots of variations as per my taste. Try it and let me know how much you enjoyed it.

Ingredients:

• Whole garam masala
• salt - as req
• Basmati rice - 1 cup
• Coconut milk - 1.5 cup
• Veggies of your choice - finely cut
• Corriander leaves for garnish
• Garlic pods - 4 or 5

Basmati Rice : Coconut Milk = 1 cup : 1.5 cup

Preparation:

To heated oil in pressure cooker, add whole garam masala(cloves, cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon) and saute till you get some nice aroma from it. Now add the veggies of your choice. I added finely cut carrots, beans, peas and corn. Adding veggies to the rice is completely optional. You can also skip the veggies and go for juz the coconut rice which still tastes heavenly. Once the added veggies are cooked, add whole or sliced garlic pods. Now add Basmati Rice and saute it with the veggies for a couple of minutes. Time to add the main ingredient. Add coconut milk, req salt and then close the pressure cooker. Leave for 2-3 whistles and then switch off the flame. Once the pressure leaves from the cooker, open the cooker and garnish the rice with some finely chopped coriander leaves.

This rice was a hit at my house and also scored full 10 points from hubby dear. So I highly recommend for this recipe. You wud sure go with me, even before you taste the rice, yeah, when the wonderful aroma of the rice fills the entire room. Do try this variety rice and let me know your comments.

Cauli Stir fry

Ingredients:

• Oil
• Onion - 1 medium
• Capsicum - 1/4 of medium
• Onion - 1 medium
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• cauliflower - 1 medium
• salt - as req
• Cumin pdr - 1 tsp
• Corriander pdr - 1tsp
• Garam masala - 1 /2 tsp
• Kasturi methi - 1tsp
• Amchur pdr - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander leaves - as garnish

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan. To the heated oil, add onion, capsicum and saute till the onion turns translucent. Then add gg paste and saute till the aroma fills the room and the raw smell of the gg paste leaves. Add the cauliflower and saute for a few mins. Then add salt and the spices, which includes cumin pdr, corriander pdr, garam masala, kasturi methi and amchur pdr. Mix all the spices to the cauliflower and then on a low flame, sprinkle some water and continue cooking with lid closed for another 5 minutes. Once your done checking if the cauliflower has been cooked, switch off the flame and sprinkle some corriander leaves before serving.

Gobi koftas in Tomato sauce

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower - 1/2 of large
• Besan Pdr - 3 tbsp
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

(You can change the spices measure as per ur taste)

• Cumin Pdr - 1 tsp
• Coriander pdr - 1 tsp
• Red Chilli pdr - 1 tsp
• Turmeric pdr - 1/4 tsp
• Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
• Egg - 1
• Cornflour - 1 tsp
• Oil
• Unsalted butter - 1 tbsp
• Bayleaf - 1
• Tomato Puree - 1 cup
• Dry Basil - 1/2 tsp
• Dry oregano - 1/2 tsp
• Brown Sugar - 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves - for garnish
• salt -as req

Preparation:

Gobi Koftas:

Chop the cauliflower florets finely. I used a chopper for this. Make a paste with Besan Pdr, GG paste, Cumin pdr, corriander pdr, red chilli pdr, turmeric pdr, salt, garam masala, egg, cornflour. Mix the chopped cauliflower into the paste and then make round balls out of it. Shallow fry the cauliflower balls in oil. Make sure you fry the cauliflower on a medium flame and also that it is fried on all sides. Once fried, remove the oil using a tissue paper. Keep this aside. Your Gobi Koftas are ready now.

Tomato sauce preparation:

Puree 4 or 5 large tomatoes.

In a pan, heat some unsalted butter. Once the butter melts add a bayleaf. pureed tomato sauce, dry basil, dry oregano, brown sugar. Add the koftas to the sauce and cook on a low-medium flame till the sauce comes to a thick consistency. Once it becomes thick, switch off the flame and garnish with some corriander leaves or with spring onions.

P.S: Since I did not have tomatoes in stock, I substituted the Tomato puree with Presto Tomato Pasta Sauce. Loved the trading :)

Yummy Gobi Koftas are ready to be served.

Choco Chips Muffins ~~ 200th Post

First i wud love to thank all of you for the support you render both to me n my blog..never thought I wud end up with so many recipes in such a short span of time...there had been times wen i hav taken a break n chilled out, chances r tat i wud hav remained so, if nt for some special people like u who kept questioning abt my absence..tatz wat made me feel tat i was atleast to some extent noticed, in a level more than i wud have ever expected....Thanx once again to everybody, who take time to read my blog, drop in some comments for my improvisation, share ur recipes in the blog so tat others cud benefit out of it....thanx to one n all :)

This being my 200th post, itz gonna be a celebration with some muffins...hmm...did i miss something...yeah, "CHOCO CHIP" Muffins...juz the word choco makes the post so special...rite :) well, i did want to add more specials to it....planned to put in a video of hw i did the muffins...i took the video too..bt then faced pbms in uploading it :( it took soooooo much time tat i went crazy n dropped the plan of video finally....wil sure try to add it to the post later...

As of nw, letz step forward with our muffins prepartion....if ur expecting me to say the preparation from the scratch, then i apologize, cos i'm goin with the easy semi-cooking method...yeah, using the muffin mix this time...there mixes cost less than a dollar n tastes so yummy....all these factors have made me lazy enough to stop doing them from the scratch by myself....

Ingredients:

• Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix Packet - 1 ( I used Martha White brand)
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Some butter/oil to grease the muffin cups

Preparation:

Heat oven to 425F. Lightly spray 6 medium muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. You can also use paper baking cups. Combine the muffin mix and milk in a small bowl. Stir until itz moistened. Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake at 425F for 14 to 17 mins or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 2 to 3 mins in pan.

Your yummy Choco Chip muffins are ready to taste.

Veggie Stuffed Capsi

Ingredients:

• Capsicum - 4 (cut in halves)
• Boiled mashed potatoes - 2
• Veggies of ur choice
• Garam masala
• Chilli pdr
• Pepper pdr
• Cumin pdr
• Coriander pdr
• Kasturi methi
• Turmeric pdr
• salt
• Bread crumbs
• Any Cheese (opt)

Preparation:

Boil some water and when it starts to boil, make the half cut capsicums to float in the water for about 5 mins...the outer portion of the capsi should become a lil soft. Make sure you don't damage the shape by making it too soft.

For the stuffing:

In some heated oil, add some the veggies of ur choice ( i used finely cut beans, carrots, peas, corns, spinach, corriander, mushroom). Add salt and spices like chilli pdr, garam masala, some coriander and cumin pdr, turmeric pdr, kasturi methi.Cook the veggies till they become soft and the spices leave the raw smell. Then switch off the flame. Your stuffing is ready.

Now, in the capsicum, start the filling, by putting some boiled mashed potato as the base..Then add the cooked veggies on top of the potato base. Fill the top again with some boiled, mashed potato..Top it with some bread crumbs and cheese of ur choice. You can bake it or grill it for 5 mins such the top of the capsi filling turns a lil brown. If you don't have an oven or a griller, then do the same in stove top.

Enjoy your healthy veggie stuffed capsi.

Poondu Kulambu (Thamil's version)

Ingredients:

• Garlic pods- 15-20 
• small onions-10 (peeled and cut into halves) 
• tomato-1 
• curry leaves 
• tamarind- a lemon sized ball( soaked and syrup extracted) 
• chilli powder-2table 
• coriander powder-1/2 table spoon 
• turmeric powder-1/2 spoon salt to taste. 
• oil -tastes best with gingely oil 
• coconut paste- grind half of a medium size coconut( grind it with lil of khus khus)

Preparation: 

1.Pour 2 1/2 table spoons of gingely oil in a pan and add kadugu,vendhayam and sombhu,patta,krambu and star annasi(sorry dono its equalent english names) to it.

2.Then add onions,garlic pods and curry leaves fry till golden yellow. Add tomato and cook till its soft.

3.To this add chilli,coriander and turmeric powder. fry till the raw smell of the powders go away.(there shd be enough oil for frying,else the powders turn black soon).

4.now to this add the tamarind extract.Allow it to boil well.finally add ground coconut and cook for 5-7 mins.

Soya Beans Stir Fry (Indo-Chinese Cuisine)

Ingredients:

• Soya - 10 to 15
• Salt
• Water - as req
• Urad dhal - 1 tsp
• red Chilli - 1
• Pepper pdr - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin pdr - 1 tbsp
• Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
• Green Beans - 15 nos.
• Soysauce - 1 tsp
• Katuri Methi - 1 tsp

Preparation:

In boiled salted water, soak Soya for 2 mins...and then after straining the water from the Soya set them aside.
In heated oil, add urad dhal and red chilli...Saute for a couple of mins...When the dhal is slightly brown in color add green beans. Add some salt, cumin pdr, kasturi methi and Garam masala. Add some water and the already cooked soya to the beans for them to get cooked well. Cover and cook for 2 mins. Once the water evaporates from the curry and the beans are well cooked, add soy sauce and saute for another couple of minutes. After soy sauce gets well into the beans and soysauce, sprinkle some pepper pdr and then switch off the flame.

Your Indo-Chinese style of Soya Beans Stir Fry is ready to be served. This goes excellent with rice.