Baingan Ka Bharta - Smoked Eggplant Curry

Ingredients:
Eggplant - 1
Onion (finely chopped) - 2
Tomato (finely chopped)  - 2
Green chilli - 1 (finely chopped) - 1
Boiled Peas - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - 1 inch chopped
Garlic - 5-6 cloves chopped
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 3 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Coriander leaves - to garnish

Method:
Brush eggplant with oil and roast it on a gas burner over medium heat.
Roast till all sides of eggplant gets roasted.
Cool the roasted eggplant and peel off the blackened flesh.
Mash the fleshy eggplant.
Heat oil in a pan, fry cumin seeds, ginger, garlic and green chillies one by one.
Add onions and fry till they are golden brown.
Add tomato and all spice powders and cook till oil comes out.
Add mashed eggplant and peas and cook over low heat for another 5 minutes.
Garnish with coriander leaves.

Sesame - Puffed Rice balls (Ellu Pori Urundai)

Ingredients:
(I used the rice cooker cup for measuring)
Pori/Puffed Rice - 3 cups
Powdered Palm Jaggery/Karupaati - 1/2 cup
Water - required to dissolve palm jaggery
Cardamom powder - 1/2 to 1 tsp
Sesame seeds - 2 tsp

Method:
Soak palm jaggery in water and strain it for any impurities.
Heat a wide  pan. Add the strained palm jaggery and cardamom powder to it and mix well.
Stir continuously till a rolling ball consistency is achieved.
Rolling ball consistency: When jaggery syrup is dropped in a bowl of water, it should roll into a ball.
Switch off the stove.
Add the pori to the syrup and mix well.
When the heat is bearable, try shaping the pori mixture into round balls.
Roll it over roasted sesame seeds.
Crispy Pori Urundai is ready!
(Variation: Roast the sesame seeds in a wide pan, add the palm jaggery and cardamom powder to it, mix well and follow the same procedure)

Kanchipuram Idli

Recipe Source: From my very old South Indian Cookery book - published in 1983 :))

Ingredients:
Raw Rice - 2 cups
Whole Urad dal - 1 cup
Curd - 300 ml
Dry Ginger/Sukku - 1 inch piece powdered
Asafoetida - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste

For tempering:
Ghee -  1-2 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Pepper, Cumin - 1 tbsp
Urad dal, Channa dal - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - few
Green chillies(chopped) - 1 (optional)
Cashews - 15

Method:
Soak Urad dal and Raw rice separately for 2 hours.
Wash and completely drain water from rice and dry.
Grind rice in mixie to rawa like consistency without adding water.
Wash and grind Urad dal completely like how we grind for idli.
Mix both adding curd, dry ginger powder, asafoetida, salt and water to idli batter consistency.
Let it sit overnight for fermentation.
Next day, do tempering(heat ghee and fry all that is mentioned for tempering) and add to the fermented batter and mix well.
Grease cups with oil and pour the batter to 3/4 of the cup.
Steam for 10 minutes. If not cup, just pour it to the idli plates and steam.
Cool for few minutes.
Kanchipuram idli is ready to serve!

Kadhamba Kootu (Mix Veg kootu)

Ingredients:
Brinjal - 1
Potato - 1
Drumstick - 1
Cauliflower - 1/2 cup
Peas - 1/2 cup
Tomato - 1
Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Green chillies - 2
Salt - to taste

Roast and grind:
Oil - 1 tsp
coconut scrap - 5 tsp
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp

For tempering:
oil/ghee - 3 tsp
Mustard,Urad -1/4 tsp
hing - a pinch
Curry leaves - few
Cashews - 10

Method:
Chop all vegetables.
Roast all the items given under"Roast and grind" till golden brown and grind it coarsely with green chillies.
Pressure cook toor dal with 2.5 cups of water. When cooked, mash toor dal.
Add chopped vegetables, turmeric powder and salt to toor dal and cook.
When vegetables are cooked, add the ground paste and let it boil.
Switch off the stove when it thickens to a kootu consistency.
Do the tempering and pour over the kootu.
Kadhamba Kootu is ready!

Nellikkai Pachadi (Gooseberry Pachadi)

Ingredients:

Gooseberry(big) - 6
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Mustard, Cumin, Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Red chilly - 1
Curd - 100 ml
Coconut scrap - 5 tsp

For tempering:
oil - very little for tempering
Red chilli - 1
Mustard, urad, cumin - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Steam cook gooseberry. Remove seed and add salt to the fleshy part of gooseberry.
Fry mustard, cumin, methi and red chilli in very little oil and grind it along with gooseberry.
Add curd to the ground paste and keep aside.
Grind coconut to fine paste and add this to the mix.
Do tempering and pour it over the mix.
Tasty Nellikkai pachadi is ready to serve!

Fruit-Yogurt Parfait

Parfait doesn't have a standard ingredient list. One can add as many ingredients as desired and is layered one above the other. Parfait is served chilled!
Ingredients include nuts, cereals, fruits, chocolates, cream, yoghurt and so on.

Parfait Encyclopedia - Just have a look! http://www.ifood.tv/network/parfait
I took one cup of plain yoghurt(can use flavoured yogurt also) and one cup of mixed fruits(apple, pomegranate, kiwi, strawberry). Chop the fruits. Arrange yogurt and mixed fruits in layers.
Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Sending this to 'Celebrate-Olympic Games Event' linking to Priya's announcement page and Jagruti's Announcement page

Eggless Wholewheat Bread Steamed Pudding

Ingredients:

Wholewheat Bread crumbs - 1 cup

(Wholewheat Bread - Keep in microwave oven for 2 minutes and grind it to get bread crumbs)

Milk - 3 cups

Sugar - 1/4 cups ( I used dark brown soft sugar)

Butter - 1 tbsp

Sugar - 1 tbsp for caramel

Method:

Boil milk. Add sugar and mix well. Keep in sim for 5 minutes.

Take it from the stove and add bread crumbs and butter and mix well and let it stand for 20 minutes.

Take the vessel for steaming, apply butter/ghee to the vessel, add sugar(1 tbsp) and heat till it changes colour to darkbrown/till it crystallizes. Switch off the stove.

Add the bread mixture slowly to it(don't mix) and steam cook for 1 hour.

When done, cool it and upturn the pudding and eat it hot or refrigerate and have a chilled pudding.

Sending this to 'Cooking with Wholegrains' event. Tagging to Priya's page and Jaya's page

Whole wheat flour Dosa(Kodhumai Dosai)

Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 2 tbsp (for crispiness)
Cumin seed - 2 tsp
Green chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Water, Salt, Oil - as required

Method:
Grind cumin seeds, green chillies and curry leaves.
Mix wheat flour, rice flour, salt, ground paste.
Add water and bring it a medium consistency not too thick nor too thin.
Spread it in tawa like dosa.
Healthy Kodhumai Dosa is ready!

Sending this to 'Cooking with Wholegrains' event. Tagging to Priya's page and Jaya's page

Caramel Apple (Dates version)

Caramel apples are prepared by dipping the apple in hot caramel and decorated by rolling it over nuts, raisins and whatever sweet things that comes to one's mind and is cooled to set. Caramel is prepared using brown sugar, heavy cream and butter. I wanted to try this with the dates dipping and so comes this post. Though we don't get a smooth silky texture like that of caramel, the taste of dates version is good.

Ingredients:

Apple - 2

Wooden Skewer/Stick - 2

Dates - 10

Honey - 2 tbsp

Milk - 3 tbsp

Dark brown soft sugar (optional) - 2 tsp

 

Method:

Soak dates in warm water to make it soft and grind it to a paste by adding water/milk to it.
In a pan, heat sugar, add boiled milk and mix well.
Add the dates paste and cook till it leaves out the edges of the pan.
Add honey to this and mix well.
Wash and clean the apples, take off the stem. Insert a skewer or stick in the center of the apple.
Dip this apple in the hot dates dip, roll it, arrange it in a plate and cool in refrigerator for few minutes until the dip sets.
Otherwise, slice the apple, dip in the dates paste and enjoy eating ( I like it to eat this way as it is more easy)!

Sending this to 'Celebrate-Olympic Games Event' linking to Priya's announcement page and Jagruti's Announcement page

Bahraini Muhammar (Sweet Rice)

Muhammar is one of the most famous Bahraini dishes. It is a sweet rice dish and usually accompanied with spicy side-dishes mostly with Fish.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 2 cups

Water - 6 cups

Sugar - 1/4 cup

(I wanted it to be less sweet, so used 1/4 cup. Change to 1/2 cup according to your taste) 

Ghee - 1/4 cup (melted)

Rose water - 2 tbsp

Saffron - 1/4 tsp

Cardamom - 3 crushed

Cloves - 3

Cinnamon stick - 1

Salt - to taste

Method:

Soak Saffron, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon in rose water and keep aside.

Wash basmati rice and cook in 6 cups of water. When it is half cooked(cooked about 10 minutes in boiling water with salt) remove from stove and drain water.

Add the drained rice to the pan, add sugar and mix well. Add melted ghee and mix well.

Pour the rosewater mixture over the rice and mix well.

Close the lid tightly and cook for 20-25 minutes.

Sweet Muhammar is ready to serve!

Recipe Source: http://www.food.com/recipe/traditional-bahraini-muhammar-sweet-rice-dish-304145

Sending this to 'Celebrate-Olympic Games Event' linking to Priya's announcement page and Jagruti's Announcement page

Paneer Podi Dosa

Ingredients:
Dosa batter (with salt added to it)
Idli Milagai podi - as required
Paneer - 1 pack
Coriander leaves
Salt
Oil

Method:
Grate paneer/ crumble it into pieces in mixie. Add little salt and mix well with paneer.
Heat a non-stick tawa and spread dosa.
Grease the corners of dosa with oil.
When the dosa is half done, add panner, idli milagai podi and coriander leaves one by one over the spreaded dosa.
When the dosa is done, fold it and keep it for few seconds.
Turn the folded one carefully and cook for few seconds till it gets roasted well.
Before spreading the next dosa, sprinkle water to cool the tawa, wipe it off and then spread dosa.
Enjoy Paneer podi dosa with or without a side dish!

Idli Milagai podi;
I used the home made podi.
Heat 1 tsp of oil and fry 1 cup of Urad dal and 1/2 cup of channa dal till golden brown.
Fry few strands of curry leaves, red chillies(add it according to your taste. I added only 3).
Fry few garlic cloves(with skin) for few seconds.
Coarse grind all the above items with salt.
Idli milagai podi is ready!

 

Gooseberry-Pome Raita

Ingredients:
Indian Gooseberry - 4
Pomegranate - half fruit
Beaten curd - 1 cup
Salt - to taste

Method:
Steam cook gooseberry for 5 minutes. Remove seed and chop into small pieces.
Mix salt, curd and pomegranate seeds with chopped gooseberry and let it sit for some time.
Gooseberry-Pome raita is ready.

Even those who hate the sour-bitter taste of gooseberry will find this delicious.

Both the fruits have numerous health benefits.This is a "Haemoglobin-friendly" raita :) Both Gooseberry and pomegranate helps increase blood count. Gooseberry's nutritional factor is such that it doesn't lose its nutritional value even after cooking and its Vitamin C content is 20 times more than that of a Orange.

Enjoy the 'Sweet-Salt-Sour' Raita!

Instant Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
Paruppu podi(Home-made/Store-bought) - 5 tbsp
Pepper Powder- 1/2 tsp or as per taste
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Corinader leaves - few
Water

Method:
Boil water and add Paruppu podi.
Mix well till it gets thickened and is without any lumps.
Sprinkle pepper, cumin and hing.
Garnish with corinader leaves.
Protein-rich Lentil soup is ready to serve!

Palak Pakoda

Ingedients:

Palak - 1 bunch

Onion - 1
Green gram dal - 1 cup
Green chillies - 2
Cumin seed - 1 tsp
Fennel seed - 1 tsp
Ginger- a small piece
Salt - as per taste
Oil - for frying

Method:

Clean and chop palak. Chop onion.
Soak Green gram dal for 2 hours and drain water.
Grind soaked green gram dal with cumin seeds, ginger, green chillies, fennel seeds and salt.
Mix chopped palak and onion with dal.
Fry in hot oil.

Vazhaipoo Varuval / Plantain Flower Fry

Though the snap resembles some sort of non-veg recipe, it really isn't. It is the result of my first attempt of frying vazhaipoo/plantain flower. It really tasted good and was so crisp. It went good with today's keerai rice.

Ingredients:
Vazhaipoo - 1
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying
Corn flour - 2 tsp
Spice powder - 1 tsp
(Coriander, pepper, cumin, Chilli)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp

Method:
Clean Vazhiapoo/Plantain flower.
Mix all the ingredients given above and make a paste.
Add the cleaned florets to the paste and mix well.
Leave it for few minutes and fry in oil.

Word of caution:
Make sure you drop the fried ones in tissue paper and then attack as the thirsty plantain flower drinks more oil :)

Wonders of Nature - Food and its shape

                                                        A wonderful video that I came across.

Chickpeas bajji

 

Ingredients:

Chickpeas - 1 cup

Rice flour : Besan flour : Water = 1 : 2 : 4

Salt and chilli powder - to taste

Hing - a pinch

Oil - for frying

Method:

Soak chickpeas in water overnight and pressure cook. Don't overcook Chickpeas.

Wash and drain water from chickpeas. Wipe it with a clean towel.

Mix Rice flour, besan flour and water as per the given ratio. Add Hing.

Add salt and chilli powder according to your taste.

Add the cooked chickpeas to the mix and mix well.

Heat oil and keep in medium heat.

When oil is ready, drop chickpeas and fry till they are golden brown in colour.

Linking to Saffron Streaks Cooking with Seed Event - Chickpeas and Priya's anouncement Page.

Nonbu Kanji (Rice Soup)

This is my favourite Kanji that is specially prepared during Ramzan for Iftar. Ramzan fasting is incomplete without this nonbu kanji. I love to have vadai/bajji dipped in this kanji and that is the best dish for starved stomach :)

Ingredients:
Rice - 1 cup
Moong dhal - 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf - 1
Garlic cloves - 10
Chopped vegetable - 1 cup
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tsp, Oil - 2 tsp
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Tomato - 1 finely chopped
Coriander leaves - few
Mint leaves - few
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 2
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup
Water - 5 cups + 2 cups
Salt - to taste

Method:
Wash and soak rice and moong dal in water.
Grind Rice and moong dal in mixie for few seconds..
Heat oil and ghee in pressure cooker.
Add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and fry for few seconds.
Add finely chopped onion and fry till onion is soft.
Add green chillies and fry.
Add ginger-garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes off.
Add garlic cloves, chopped tomato, chopped vegetables and fry one by one.
Add coriander leaves, mint leaves and fry.
Add cumin powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.
Add broken rice and moong dal and fry.
Add 5 cups of water and adjust salt.
Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles. When done, open and mash it slightly.
Add coconut milk and 2 cups of hot water and boil.
Nonbu kanji is ready !!!

Linking this to Priya's Healthy Diet Event - Warm Soups , Let's Cook Rice event and New U event.

Coriander Rice

Ingredients:

Rice - 2 cups

Coriander leaves - 2 bunch

Mint leaves - few

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Hing - 1/2 tsp

Garlic cloves - 2

Tamarind paste - 1-2 tsp

Red chillies - 3

Oil - 1 tsp

Salt - as per taste

For tempering:

Oil- 2 tsp

Mustard seed - 1 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Method:

Boil rice and keep separately.

Clean and chop coriander leaves and mint leaves.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan. Fry mustard seed,  hing and urad dal.

Add red chillies and garlic cloves and fry for few seconds.

Add chopped coriander and mint leaves and fry for few minutes.

Cool this mixture and grind it in mixie along with tamarind and salt.

Heat oil, add mustard seed, urad dal and curry leaves.

Add the ground mixture to the pan and fry for few minutes.

Add boiled rice to this mixture and mix well. Serve hot !!!

Chickpeas Pulao

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 2 cup

Cooked Chickpeas - 1 cup
Potato(small) - 1

Garlic cloves - 4 finely chopped

Ghee - 2 tsp

Oil- 1 tbsp

Bay Leaf,  Cloves,  Cardamom - 1

Onion - 1 finely chopped

Green Chillies Slitted - 3

Cashews - 10-15 (optional)

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Biryani powder - 1 tsp (optional)

Turmeric  powder - 1/4 tsp

Mint - few leaves

Water - 3 Cups

Salt - to taste

 

 

Method:

Soak Chickpeas overnight and pressure cook with water for 15 minutes.

Wash and soak rice for half an hour.

Heat oil and ghee in a non-stick pan.

Add bay leaf, cloves and cardamom and fry or few minutes.

Add cumin seeds and fry.

Add chopped garlic cloves and fry.

Add cashews and fry.

Add chopped onions and sauté for few minutes.

Add slitted green chillies. Add turmeric powder, Biryani powder and salt.
Add chopped potato and fry till it is half-cooked.

Add boiled chickpeas and mix well.

Wash soaked rice, drain water and fry for few minutes without breaking the rice.

Add 3 cups of water and adjust salt.

Add 1 tsp of ghee and mix well. Let it boil.

When  60%  is cooked, keep in low flame and cook till done.

Garnish with mint leaves.

Linking this to Let's cook - Rice event, Saffron Streak's  Cooking with seed - Chickpeas and Priya's anouncement page.