Few Minute Wonders

Paneer Soda: A Recipe From A Follower G.S.K

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Mon, 28 May 2012 23:30:00 +0000

I was looking through my blog post for marmalade and I saw this comment today. I do not know how I let a comment like that slip me, but I am glad that I noticed it now. In 2009, I got a comment from Mr. G.S.K and he had given me this paneer soda recipe then. Felt really bad that I had not posted his recipe earlier. Thank you Mr. G.S.K for this recipe, we enjoyed the paneer soda because it was very refreshing. It has the flavor of rose milk, but it is very light and has a very fresh taste. If you like and enjoy the rose essence flavor this one might just be the drink that you might want to try.

Gadgets:

Glass
Measuring Cups and Spoons

These photos are being sent to Black and White Wednesdays hosted by Sra

Ingredients:

Rose Essence - a few drops ( Rose Water - 1 tsp, which also works)
Sugar - 3 tbsp
Ice Cubes - as required
Soda - 1 cup

Preparation:

1. Add some soda, sugar and essence and allow for the sugar to dissolve.

2. Add the ice cubes and the remaining soda and serve.

Swiss Chard Ragu With Penne Pasta : Learning From Mario Batali

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:01:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I had borrowed Mario Batali and Mark Ladner's book Molto Gusto Easy Italian Cooking from the library. It has such mouth watering pasta, pizza and gelato recipes. I have watched Mario Batali cook so effortlessly and heard great reviews about food at his restaurants. So, in pursuit of learning to cook and learn a technique or two from this cook book, I tried this pasta recipe. It was pretty simple to make and I admit that, it is the best pasta that I have made so far. What did I learn from this recipe? To use of pasta water and cold butter as base sauce for the pasta. Whatever I cooked was gone that day. Simply delicious, was the comment. I did add Italian seasoning to the recipe and not add the cheese that was suggested as we had allergies to deal with. In spite of it all, I was so proud of learning to make simple pasta taste delicious.

Gadgets:

Cutting Board
Knife
Colander
Stock pot to make pasta
Frying Pan
Spatula
Laddle

Ingredients:
Serves 6
Onion - 1 big sliced
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch chopped
Cold Butter - 4 tbsp
Salt
Pepper
Penne pasta - 1 packet
Garlic Pods - 5
Olive Oil - 3 tbsp
Pasta Water - 1 cup plus more if you are reheating the pasta for later
Italian Seasoning - as per spice levels
Bread Crumbs/ Croutons/ Rusk grated - 1/2 cup

Preparation:

1. Start to prepare pasta as per the instructions on the packet.

2. Heat a heavy pan with olive oil, when it warms up add sliced garlic, thinly sliced onions and cook them a little before adding the swiss chard. Add some salt, cover and let them cook until tender for 7 minutes.

3. Add pepper, butter and allow it to cook for a few minutes.

4. When the pasta is done drain and keep aside the pasta water. Pour 1/4 cup at a time to the swiss chard mix to create a sauce.

5. Toss in the pasta and 3/4 cup pasta water. Allow it to cook a little to blend in all the flavors.

6. Add Italian seasoning on top as per taste and garnish with grated croutons or toasted bread crumbs and serve hot.

Fruit Salads: Topped With Creme Fraiche or In Fresh Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:45:00 +0000

Farmer's market is so colorful these days. Strawberries, blueberries, apricots, cherries, oranges, raspberries, nectarines, peaches are so fresh and cry out to be added to the shopping bag. We have been hooked on strawberries that are the sweetest that I have ever tasted. Apricots are very juicy and sweet too.This weekend we had friends over for lunch and I prepared the simple fruit salad and served it with creme fraiche. It was absolutely delicious and fresh as fresh can be. Sometimes, it best to serve simple food when we have company and you have the best fruit on hand.

Gadgets:

Cutting Board

Knife

Bowls

Spoons

Fruit Salad Topped With Creme Fraiche:

Ingredients:

Strawberry - 1 cups cubed evenly into chunks

Banana - 1 cubed

Mango - 1 cubed

Apricot - 1 cup cubed

Creme Fraiche - 4 tbsp

Preparation:

Add bananas to the bowl first and then add the rest of the fruits. This helps the fruit stay fresh longer. Chill all the fruits in the fridge for 30 minutes, give it a toss and transfer them into individual bowls. Serve with a dollop of creme fresh. Yum-O!

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Fruit Salad Topped In Fresh Cream:

Now what would one do if the fruits are not sweet and perfect for our taste. A good way to dress them up and make then enjoyable is drenching the fruits in fresh cream. Apart from the taste, texture and appearance of fruit matters. Most people like the one soaked in fresh cream because it makes the fruit taste sweeter and richer. Either way, I love to make fruit salad and here are two other versions to the already existing Mango fruit salad and spicy fruit salad. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Fruits ( Banana, Mango, Strawberry, Blueberry, Peach, Nectarine, Apricot) - 3 cups

Madarin Oranges - 1 can

Fresh Cream - 1/4 cup

Whole Milk or 2 % Milk - 3/4 cup

Sugar - as per taste

Preparation:

Mix together the fresh cream, milk and sugar. Toss in the fruits and chill it in the fridge. Serve anytime.

Salted Peanuts/ Salted Kadalai: Make Them In Under 5 Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Mon, 21 May 2012 04:54:00 +0000

Salted peanuts are awesome as a snack. In India, the peanuts are roasted in sand and sold as street snack. It will be warm rolled in news paper and taste absolutely delicious. My sister's friend gave her an awesome recipe to create the same effect and I am elated that I could enjoy salted peanuts here. Super easy, took me two and a half minutes to make it and I had to wait for one long minute to cool down to taste one peanut. Here is the recipe for all those who love to have salted peanuts like me. Perfect to parcel them off for picnics, games, for an afternoon snack, for a movie night, with drinks and over a great conversations.

Gadgets:

Microwave

Microwave safe plate

Measuring Cup

Ingredients:

Raw Peanuts with skin - 1 cup

Water - enough to wash the peanuts

Salt - a few pinches

Preparation:

It all depends on the power of your microwave. Mine was done in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. If not sure go in 1 minute increments.

1. Wash a cup of peanuts in water. Drain out the water. Add a few pinches of salt and microwave for one minute, give it a mix and microwave it for another minute.After that please microwave in 1 minute increments.

2. Important, do not go past 3 minutes, it will get over toasted. Because,sometimes when they are very hot they will not taste roasted, but after it cools down it will be perfect.

Chewy Coco-Walnut Bars

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:11:00 +0000

With school year almost coming to an end, less homework and more fun times have started to set in. Two days ago, my daughter wanted to help with dinner. She wanted us to have the eggplant mozzarella sandwich like the one at Anderson's bakery, sweet potato fries and a healthy dessert. So convinced me to make the dessert and to keep my part of the deal, I made the coco-walnut bars.We did not have a recipe, so we added our own ingredients into the mixing bowl and kept note of the ingredients on the white board that my daughter loves writing on. It was a lot of fun and the bars turned out awesome. It was chewy for sure because we used brown sugar, had a macaroon like taste because of the coconuts, walnuts and oats added a lot of texture.She certified that it was blog worthy. So here I am sharing our crazy experiments, and in a way, documenting to revisit memories.

Gadgets:

Bowl

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Spatula

Baking tray

Aluminum Foil

Ingredients:

Desiccated Shredded Coconut - 2 cups

Oats - 2 cups

Chopped Walnuts - 1 cup

All Purpose Flour - 1/4th cup

Brown Sugar - 1 1/2 cup

Salt - one pinch

Milk - 1/4th cup

Butter - 2 tbsp

Vanilla Essence - 1 1/2 tsp

Egg - 1

Dark Chocolate - 2 pieces shaved

Preparation:

1.Set the oven at 350 degrees F. In a bowl add all the dry ingredients. At this point ask yours kids to use their hands and mix the ingredients. They will have a fun time playing with the textures.

2. Mix all the wet ingredients one at a time and bring them mixture together.

3. In a small baking tray ( 8x8) line with foil and transfer the mixture. Spread and pat evenly. Bake for 20 minutes.

4. Remove and cut them when they are cooled a little. Add the dark chocolate shavings a little on each square. Store in the fridge for it to set very well.

Baked Savory Lentil Donuts In Chilled Yogurt Sauce/ Low Fat Thair Vadai / Low Fat Dhai Vadai

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:21:00 +0000

During Christmas vacation, my sister and I tried to bake vadai's with the electric donut maker. We just used the regular vadai batter with no baking powder or soda and did not achieve the results that we desired. They tasted like vadai,but, as they say in chemistry it was colorless. Apart from that they took forever to bake. So, I gave up on the idea of using the electric donut maker.

A month ago, I was looking at a whole bunch of baking trays and it suddenly came to me that I could use a donut baking tray to make vadai's. This time, I started to think through the recipe before I blindly baked the vadai's.

Some important adjustments that I needed to make when it came to making vadai's in donut pans were:

1. The suggested temp of 375 F does not work well with vadai's. I think baking it at 375 F and then removing them out of the donut tray and baking them on a regular tray at 400 F created a crunchy exterior while cooking through the interior of the vadia.

2. The regular vadai batter creates very dense vadai's and addition of some water makes a lighter vadai.

3. Baking powder and soda, do have a great effect on the cosmetic look of the vadai. They help in giving them some color.

4. The donut pan creates a perfect shape for the vadai. The top inflates beautifully while in the oven and then deflates as it continues to bake creating a flatter top (which did not look pretty).

With all these changes I was very excited to taste the baked vadai's. The vadai's came out crunchy and tasted fine with chutney when they were warm. Would I make it again? Sure! I loved the vadai with chutney, as sambar vadai and thair vadai. Seriously, you cannot tell the difference. I gave them to the pro's who are very picky about the their vadai, and they had no clue that they were baked. When I told them it was made with baked vadai, they suggested that I make it every week.

Apart from the taste, was it safe to eat and was it digestible? Yes! they baked perfectly and no one complained of stomach ouchies.

Now, one may ask why bake them? Why not? It is low in fat, people who have health issues and cannot have fried food, are left with very little choice to eat when it comes to Indian deep fried snacks. This is also a perfect and delicious alternative for people who are on a diet. It gives them great pleasure because it is guilt free eating.

Gadgets:

Food Processor
Bowls
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Donut Baking Tray

Ingredients:
For Baked Vadai:
Udad Dal - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 3 tbsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 4 tbsp
Salt
Green Chillies - 2
Asafoetida Powder - 1/8 tsp
Ginger - 1 inch

For Yogurt Sauce:
Curry Leaves - a few
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies - 2
Asafoetida - a few shakes of the powder
Salt
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Grated Fresh Ginger - 2 tsp
Hot Water - a bowl

Preparation:

1. Soak the udad dhal for 5 hours. Using a food processor, grind the vadai with green chillies, salt, asafetida, curry leaves with very little water. Keep sprinkling some water when needed.
Note: 1 cup of udad dhal = 4 cups of vadai batter.

2. Set the oven at 375 degrees F.

3. In a bowl add the vadai batter. Add rice flour, oil,baking soda and powder.

4. In a six regular sized donut pan, add about 4 tbsp of batter so as to cover the mould fully. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Use up all the batter before going to the next step.

5. Increase the oven temp to 400 degrees F. Place the vadai's in a baking tray and bake them all for about 20 minutes.

6. In a blender add coconut, and some yogurt, curry leaves, salt and blend. Mix it with the remaining yogurt.
7. Place the seasoning wok on medium high add 1 tsp oil. Add asafetida, mustard seeds, dry red chillies and curry leaves. Allow for the mustard to pop. Add this to the yogurt and mix well.

8. Dunk the vadai's in a bowl of hot water for a few seconds. Remove and squeeze excess water and place in a tray.

9. Pour the yogurt mix on top of the vadai's in the tray. Allow to soak for sometime in the fridge and serve them chilled.

Besan Fudge : Celebrating Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:29:00 +0000

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. Along with the mother's day I wanted to celebrate my Amma's birthday which was last week, by making her recipe that she is very proud of. My Amma is not too fond of cooking compared to her sisters. It is not that Amma does not know how to cook, its just something she was not interested in. But, she does have a few tricks up her sleeve. Mysore pak is her favorite sweet and she always makes this cheat version of it. She is very proud of this recipe because it got her sisters approval which was very important to her. She wanted to share this recipe with me and I loved it. The fudge was not gooey, but was firm and soft. It tasted awesome hot off the stove and took me less than 15 minutes to prepare.

Gadgets:

Heavy Bottom Pan

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Spatula

Knife

Ingredients:

Makes 8 Pieces

Besan - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 3 tbsp plus 1 tsp

Milk - 1/4 cup

Cashew nuts - 10 ( optional)
Cardamom - 3 pods powdered
Saffron- a pinch

Preparation:

1. Heat the pan with 2 tbsp ghee on a little over medium heat. Add besan and roast it until the raw smell disappears. ( about 4 minutes).

2. Add milk, sugar and 1 tbsp of ghee and mix well. Keep mixing until you get the mixture to leave the sides of the pan and form a ball. Add 1 tsp of ghee, add cardamom, chopped cashew nut pieces and remove from heat.

3. Allow it to rest for a few minutes. Make small ball ( approximately 1tbps) and flatten with your palm and shape to form a square. ( At this point I used the curly knife and cut the edges to make it look pretty, you can skip that step.)

4. Store them in a air tight container. They will not harden but will have a chewy and soft texture.

My entry to Mom's Recipes Event and Family recipe challenge.

Carrot Kheer : Purple Carrots Makes Brown Kheer

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:19:00 +0000

My Amma loves carrots, she likes them fresh and will chew on them like a bunny for her mid morning snack. When she has to make a payasam or kheer she would always opt for carrot kheer. When we question her choice, she would promptly let us know that it was good for health. Since its mothers day this weekend, I thought it would be nice to post something she enjoys.

We bought a bunch of purple carrots at the farmers market last week. My original plan was to make a salad, but since I did not get to it earlier, I had to cook with it. I decided to make carrot kheer and in the corner of my mind feared that it might show up purple. Mentally, I was not ready to drink a purple kheer. In spite of my nervousness, I went with the whole process of making the kheer. Guess what showed up? Some cooked carrots swimming in purple liquid. It reminded me of the water that my daughter leaves in a bowl after painting. YUCK! I was totally not ready to use it. But curiosity got the better of me, I continued to work with it. I wanted to make sure if the kheer was purple, before I decide to dump the whole thing. When I pureed the carrots, to my surprise, I found a brown puree, almost like a regular payasam made out of jaggery. With great relief, I completed the cheer.

My daughter and I spent an afternoon at the ceramic cafe. She wanted me to paint the heart plate for her. Happy Mother's Day!

Gadgets:

Blender

Pressure Pan

Bowl

Measuring Cups and Bowls

Ingredients:

Carrots - 3 cups chopped

Water - 1 cup

Milk - 4 cups

Sugar - 3/4 - 1 cup or more as per taste

Cardamom - 5 pods

Cashew Nuts / Almonds - 1/2 cup

Saffron - a pinch

Preparation:

1. Peel the carrots and pressure cook with water, 1/2 cup milk and cashew nuts to 2 whistles.

2. Cool and puree the carrots along with cardamom.

4. Transfer the puree to the pressure pan, add milk, sugar and saffron. Serve them warm or cold. Personally, I like them chilled.

Patra Sandwich In Under 10 Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Wed, 09 May 2012 02:56:00 +0000

I generally do not buy a lot of frozen food, but I do stock on patra. Patra is popular side dish from Gujarat, made with the leaf of taro root rolled with besan flour and spices. These rolled logs are steamed, then sliced into discs and seasoned. I have not tried making them so I enjoy deep brand's frozen patra. They are perfect for a late night snack on weekends. A month ago, I had to make lunch, but was not in the mood to cook. I suggest sandwiches and everyone agreed. I was out of veggie patties but found a packet of patra in my freezer. As they say, "necessity is the mother of invention", I used patra to make the sandwiches. It was such a hit and now I make it often. The coconut seasoning along with the sweet salt and spicy taste from the warm patra along with fresh veggies is a big winner for me.

Gadgets:

Bowl
Cutting Board
Knife

Ingredients:

Bread - 2 slices or 1 roll sandwich bread
Patra - I box of deep patra
Tomato - 1 thinly sliced
Onion - a few slices
Ranch Dressing any kind or Sweet and Mint Chutney - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Toast the bread, heat up the patra in a microwave safe bowl.

2. Place the patra on the bread, add the dressing or the chutneys. Top it with tomatoes and onions. cover with another bread slice and serve them warm with a smoothie or cool drink in summer and chai in winter.

Mint Quinoa: Prepared with Freezable Mint Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Sat, 05 May 2012 17:36:00 +0000

For a while I have been looking at this recipe that a friend shared with me, and finally I got down to preparing it. Prepare mint paste or sauce, store it in the freezer and use it when needed to make mint quinoa or rice. It adds so much of flavor and taste to the quinoa that it has become my favorite quinoa based dish to prepare. Last night for dinner, I made mint quinoa and served it on the side with cucumber raita. The breakthrough with this recipe is that my niece who does not enjoy quinoa as much liked it. If you cannot find quinoa, please substitute it with rice it is absolutely delicious.

Gadgets:

Blender

Measuring Spoons and Cups

Heavy Bottom Pan

Cutting Board

Knife

Mint Sauce/ Paste:

Ingredients:

Makes a Cup of Sauce:

Mint Leaves - 2 bundles

Cilantro - 1 bundle

Garlic Cloves - 8

Ginger - 2 inches

Black Cardamom ( without skin) - 1

Green Cardamom - 5

Black Pepper - 12

Cloves -3

Cinnamon - 2 one inch sticks

Green Chillies- 1

Poppy Seeds/ Kas Kas - 1 tsp

Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp

Water - 1/4 cup ( optional)

Preparation:

1. Add all these ingredients to a blender and blend into a paste. Transfer to a freezer proof ziploc and store it flat or in ice cube tray.

Mint Quinoa:

Ingredients:

Serves 4

Quinoa - 1 1/2 cups

Onion - 1 1/2 sliced thinly

Ginger - 1 inch

Garlic - 4 cloves

Peas - 1/2 cup

Green Chillies - 1 whole

Cumin Seeds or Shah Jeera - 1 tsp

Cloves - 3

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Bay Leaves - 1

Cashew Nuts - 1/4 cup cut into pieces ( optional)

Raisins - 1/3 cup (optional)

Chilli Powder - 1 tsp ( depending on your spice you can vary this)

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt

Water - 3 cups

Milk - 1 cup

Note: If using rice use water and milk accordingly

Mint Paste - 2 tbsp

Butter - 1 tbsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Wash the quinoa and allow it to sit in water.

2. Heat the pan with oil and butter. Allow for the butter to melt and then add cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, cashew nuts and raisins. Allow for the cashews to lightly toast and the raisins to plump.

3. Add ginger, garlic and onions to the spices and cook them until the onions turn translucent. Add peas, chilli, turmeric powder and salt and cook for 2 minutes.

4. Drain the water from quinoa and add to the veggie mix. Mix the quinoa well for 2 minutes.

5. Add water and milk and check to see if there is enough salt. Then add the mint paste and mix well. Add the whole chilli.

6. Bring the liquid to a boil cover and cook for 15 minutes on medium heat.

7. There will be some amount of liquid left. Leave the pan half closed and allow the quinoa to cook through.

8. Once the liquid is evaporated the quinoa might appear sticky, but in 5 minutes it will absorb the water and will be fine to enjoy it with cucumber raita.

Boba / Tapioca Black Pearls: Learning To Prepare Boba

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Fri, 04 May 2012 03:54:00 +0000

The first time I tasted boba with pineapple strawberry smoothie, I loved it. Boba is a black pearl like tapioca that is used in cold beverages. They have an awesome chewy texture and I love having them with fruit based drinks or smoothies. Every time we have our famous family get togethers, my daughter, sisters, nieces and nephews and I never fail to visit the mall. Once inside, we look forward to Surf City Squeeze's boba smoothies. The minute we reach their counter, we act like kids at the candy store. There is a great sense of insecurity about the availability of boba for the whole gang that, we have to quickly find out if they have enough stock of boba. It then determines if all of us get one or two shot of boba in our smoothies.

A few days ago, I googled on boba and found that it was something simple to prepare at home, so I decided to give it a try. So, today at Ranch 99 Market, I found an overwhelming amount of packaged boba and I decided to try the instant kind. The label said that it takes 5 minutes to cook, which would be good for a starter ( please refer to the photo above. If you do not have access to a Asian store you can buy them on line at amazon.com.

The cooked boba looked so beautiful like black pearls and I could not but wonder how a string of them would look. My daughter thought that it was funny and made her flower necklace and I stuck to the sting of black pearls.

For after school snack, we had our blended berry and banana boba smoothie. We were so excited to have our own stock of boba in the fridge for use at any time.

Note: If anyone reading the post thinks that I must use some other kind of boba please do drop me a comment and I will learn to do it right.

Gadgets:

Colander

A big Stock Pot

Spatula

Measuring Cups

Ingredients:

Baba/ Tapioca Pearls - 1 packet (1 1/2 cups)

Water - 12 cup

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Preparation:

1. Bring to boil 8 cups of water. Add 1/2 cup of boba at a time and keep mixing. The pearls will start to float and plump up.

2. Turn the heat to medium and cover the stock pot. Allow to cook for 5-8 minutes.

3. Drain the water and wash the boba well. Transfer the boba into the stock pot with 4 cups of water and 1/4 cups of sugar.

4. Make smoothies and use this boba. Do not remove it from the sugar water because they would stick and become very tough.

Brinjal/ Eggplant Cashew Curry In 15 Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:01:00 +0000

Walking into Sprouts market place yesterday, I was greeted by a table of baby brinjal which looked so colorful. Eggplant or Brinjal taste best when they are not stored in the fridge. Since they were super fresh, I decided to make something with it for dinner to go with the roti's. This is a very simple curry with cashews that deliver the crunch that I enjoy in my food. Was done in 15 minutes and tasted delicious.

Gadgets:

Heavy bottom Pan

Spatuala

Measuring Spoons

Cutting Board

Knife

Ingredients:

Baby Brinjal / Egg plant - 14 ( cut them lengthwise)

Onion - 1 ( julienne)

Roma Tomatoes - 2 ( like french fries)

Ginger - 2 tsp chopped

Garlic - 2 tsp chopped

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp ( I used a very spicy powder)

Salt

Cashew Nuts - 15

Oil - 3 tbsp

Cilantro - some for garnishing

Preparation:

1. Heat the pan with oil. Add cumin seeds and allow to toast a few seconds.

2. Add cashew nuts garlic, ginger and onion and cook until the onions gets transparent. Add brinjal, mix and cook it for some time covered.

3. Add salt, coriander, chilli and turmeric powder and five it a mix.

4. After a few minutes add tomatoes and cover and cook on low for a 5 minutes.

5. Garnish with cilantro and serve it hot as a side dish for roti or rice.

My entry to : Healthy Diet – Vegetarian Side Dishes hosted by Cooks Joy
Dish it out - Eggplant and Tomatoes hosted by Cookshideout

Strawberry Pickle/Oorugai/Achar: Strawberry Avakai, Thundu Strawberry And Vadu Strawberry

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:36:00 +0000

I have been blogging since 2007, but I have never had this much fun, coming up with the idea, preparing every pickle, documenting, picking out names for each pickle and relishing it. The original idea for the strawberry pickle came from my husband. He suggested that I treat strawberries like vadumanga, a pickle that is very popular in the south of India, prepared with baby raw mangoes. Since the strawberry have a tartness and its size resembled the raw baby mango I decided to experiment with it. Though, he suggested one type of pickle I made three different types.

My consultant for this pickle was my Amma. In all these years, she has been the sole pickle maker for our family and friends. She has been blessed and gifted with hands that made pickles that never spoil or taste bad. I asked her how she made the vadumanga's and if there was a recipe. She said it all depended on the type of raw baby mango used. Apart from that, she said she would throw in the salt and spices and it always worked. But, I asked her to help me out with this recipe because I was no pro. She told me that the most important thing to do was clean and dry well before use and to add enough salt to allow the ingredients used to release its water. Apart from that it was important to preserve it well.

Strawberry Vadu:

Gadgets:

Bowl
Cloth
Measuring Spoons and Cup
Bottle
Blender

Ingredients:

Strawberry ( not too ripe) - 9
Sesame Oil - 3 tbsp
Mustard Seed Powdered - 1 tbsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 4 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Preparation:
Time: 5 Days
1. Wash the strawberries and dry them on a bowl to remove water.

2. In a bowl mix oil, turmeric powder and salt. Add the strawberries and coat it well with the spice mix.

3. Store this in a bottle and cover the lid tightly. Allow it to sit with the salt for 3 days. By this time, the strawberry would release its water.

4. Add the mustard powder and chilli powder and mix well. Allow it to marinate for over a day before serving it with yogurt rice.

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Strawberry Aavakai:

Gadgets:

Clean Cloth
Bowl
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Jadi/ Bottle
Blender

Ingredients:

Strawberries - 12 ( preferably not the sweet kind)
Sesame Oil - 3-4 tbsp To coat the strawberries
Turmeric Powder - 3 tsp
Salt
Red Chilli Powder - 4 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 3 tbsp powdered
Garbanzo Beans - a hand full

Preparation:
Time : 5 days

1. Wash the strawberries and dry them with a towel gently.

2. In a bowl mix oil and turmeric powder. Toss in the strawberries until they are all well coated.

3. Sprinkle salt ( 2 tbsp) and mix and cover the bowl. Allow to sit on the kitten counter for a day. The next day add more salt ( 2 tbsp) and give a gentle toss. On the third day you will see the salt bringing the water out of the strawberries. Add another 2 tbsp of salt and let it sit.

4. On the fourth day grind mustard seeds in a blender. Add this mustard along with the chilli powder and garbanzo beans. Give it a toss.

5. Cover and allow for the spices to enter the strawberries.

6. Make a bowl of yogurt rice ( thair sadham) or mix it with rice with a dash of sesame oil and enjoy strawberry avakai sadham.

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Thundu Strawberry Oorugai:

Gadgets:

Seasoning Ladle
Measuring Spoon and Cup
Bowl
Cutting Board
Knife

Ingredients:

Strawberry - 10 ( Try using the tart strawberries)
Salt
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Sesame Oil - 1 tsp
Asafoetida Powder - a few pinches
Fenugreek Seeds - 1/8 tsp

Preparation:
Time: Under 10 Minutes
1. Cut the strawberries into small pieces.

2. Heat the seasoning ladle with some oil. Add asafetida, mustard seeds, allow it to pop, add fenugreek seeds, chilli, turmeric powder and salt.

3. Toss it into the strawberry. Serve it with yogurt rice.

Frozen Grapes : A Snack Under 70 Calories

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:46:00 +0000

My friend Cari introduced me to this treat/snack a few years ago. Soon, I was hooked on it and felt super happy when I found that they were just 70 calories a cup. If you were not having a cup of them, but popping a few into your mouth, then each grape is about 3 calories. So do the math and get your instant sweet and frozen treat fix this summer. As my yoga teacher used to say, guilt free eating is the way to weight reduction. Seriously, by the time you have a few frozen grapes you feel so satisfied with the sweet in them. Apart from adults, it is a great treat for the kids because, they are excited to have something cold and you cannot beat this healthy frozen fruit treat. Serve them these healthy after school snacks anytime.

Gadget:

Ziploc container/ bag

Ingredient:

A bowl of seedless grapes any kind ( please use the sweet ones, makes all the difference when cold)

Preparation:

1. Wash the grapes and wipe them dry. Toss them into a ziploc bag or container and store it in your freezer. After a few hours enjoy your treat.

Thata Vadai/ Disc Vadai

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:24:00 +0000

I know most of you must be wondering what sort of vadai that is. I wondered too. On my last visit to India, our friend, Prabhu came home with a bag of 30 plus of these vadai's, which were hot off the stove. The whole room smelt of a tea shop and in minutes all the vadai's were gone. I am sure everyone in our house must have had multiple vadai's. Remember that these are no normal sized vadai's . They were bigger than your palm and as big as a CD disc. Prabhu was nice enough to get me this recipe and here I am sharing it with everyone. It has been drizzling this morning, which reminded of Coimbatore in June/ July and to enjoy the weather, I decided to make the thatai vadai, that is sold in my home town and have my hot cup of elachi chai. Valga Prabhu!!

Gadgets:

Frying Pan

Cutting Board

Knife

Aluminum Foil

Draining Spatula

Paper Towel

Colander

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Bowl

Ingredients:

Makes 5 Vadai's

All Purpose Flour/ Maida - 2 cups

Rice Flour - 2 heaped tsp

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp plus

Green Chillies - 2 or more thinly sliced

Onion - 1 finely sliced

Ginger - 1 tbsp grated

Garlic - 1 tbsp grated

Cilantro - 1/4 cup roughly chopped

Oil - 2 tbsp

Water - 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp

Oil for frying ( roughly 2 cups)

Preparation:

1. Place the frying pan on the stove on medium heat with oil for frying.

2.Add all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Add oil and mix well.

3. Add all the onions, ginger, garlic, chillies and mix well with the flour.

4. Add water and form a soft dough.

5. Split the dough into 5 portions and make a ball with it.

6. Flatten the ball of dough to lightly so that it helps in frying easily

7. On the kitchen counter, place 2 square sheets of aluminum foil.

8. Increase the level of heat over medium high. When the oil is ready to fry, add one vadai portion into the oil and fry on both sides 40 seconds each.

9. Remove the vadai from oil and place it on one aluminum foil sheet.

10. Place the other sheet over it and flatten it with your palm and shape it to the size of a CD disc but keep it thick (1/2 inch).

11. Put the disc shaped half fried vadai back into the oil and fry on both sides until golden brown and enjoy it with a cup of hot tea.

Uttapum / Savory Rice Pancakes Topped With Mixed Veggies

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:32:00 +0000

For dinner, we had uthappam. When I started to learn cooking, I had many challenges with preparing a perfect uthappam. I would make such a mess with it that I decided to not make them for some time. All that changed when my cousin Murali, whose fried rice recipe is posted here, showed me how he made perfect uthappam. So for those who struggle like I used to, here is the thing that you have to remember:

1. Slow cooking. Set the tava to medium heat. This helps to make a perfect crisp base and cook through the batter.
2. Have a lid to cover the uttapam when its cooking. The steam helps in cooking the dosai batter and veggies.
3. Remove all the juice and seeds from the tomato before adding as toppings ( Use a firm tomato)
4. Use veggies that have a crunchy texture.
5. Keep it small. Do not make it as big as a dosai it will disintegrate when you flip the uttapam.

Voila, you create the perfect uttapam.

Gadgets:

Bowls
Tava/ Iron Griddle
Spatula
Measuring Cups and Spoona
Cutting Board
Knife
Vegetable Chopper

Ingredients:
Serves 4
Dosai/Dosa Batter - 2 cups ( use 1/2 cup per person).
Note: If you cannot make the batter please buy them at the local Indian store)
Mixed Veggies ( Capsicum or bell pepper in different colors if you can find them, carrot, tomato asparagus, onion cut uniformly) - 2 cups ( 1/2 cup per person)
Ginger - 2 tsp grated
Green Chillies - 2 ( add more if you like the spice)
Curry Leaves - a few
Cilantro - 1/4 finely chopped
Salt
Oil - a few tsps
Ghee - 1 tsp.

Preparation:

1. Set the tava on medium heat.

2. Mix all veggies along with ginger and herbs. Add 1 tsp of salt and set it aside.

3. Add very little salt to the dosai batter and mix well. Pour 1/2 cup of batter on the have and make a thick pancake. Add 1/2 cup of veggies on top evenly.

4. Mix the ghee and oil together and drizzle around the uthappam. Cover with with a lid and allow it to cook for a few minutes.

5. When you remove the lid, make sure to see that all the batter is fully cooked. Carefully, flip the uthappam and cook it uncovered.

6. Serve it hot with chutney and sambar.

My entry to: Bon Vivant Moments #3 - Breakfast Ideas

Cauliflower Masal Dosai/ Cauliflower Masal Roast Using A Green Cauliflower

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:47:00 +0000

Cauliflower masala roast/dosai is very popular in the south of India. It is one of our favorite dosai's to have at the restaurants. Sometimes, they add too many spices and kill the taste of cauliflower. This week at the farmers market they had a very green looking cauliflower ( no, not broccoli ) and we were enamored by its color that it landed up in our basket. I thought using it in the preparation of cauliflower masala dosai would be interesting. After a long discussion with my sister, regarding on what is added to the cauliflower masala, I had to agree that she was right and her method of not adding extra spices makes it very tasty and enhances the taste of cauliflower and keeps the food simple.

Gadgets:

Heavy bottom pan
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Sauteing Spoon
Dosai Tava/ Griddle
Spatula
Lid

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1 whole medium size ( I used green cauliflower)
Onion - 1 sliced
Tomato - 1 medium chopped
Garlic - 2 pod
Ginger - 1 inch
Asafoetida Powder - 1/8th tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp ( please adjust as per your spice level)
Salt
Water - 1/3 cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Whole Green Chilli - 1

Preparation:

1. Heat the heavy bottom pan with oil. Add asafetida powder.

2. Add the sliced onions, salt and cook on medium heat. Cover and cook and keep mixing frequently.

3. Add tomatoes, chilli powder and water and allow to boil.

4. Add the cauliflower heads cut uniformly in small flowers. Add more salt if needed. Mix well and cover and cook for a few minutes.

5. The cauliflower must not be mushed, but rather mixed well with the onion and tomato and hold its form. Add one whole chilli and mix. This chilli will add a lot of flavor to the masala.

6. Once the water is evaporated, add cilantro and give it a toss.

7. Make thin dosai, cover and cook on one side only. When the batter is cooked spread the cauliflower masala in one half and cover it with the other side.

Quinoa Bars/ Quinoa Burfi/ Quinoa Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:38:00 +0000

When I made quinoa ladoo, I was told by bloggers and my sister that it was best to soak, dry and roast the quinoa before making anything out of it. Personally, I liked the ladoo the way I had blogged. But, I wanted to make sure I was using the quinoa in the right way. I looked through many blogs, websites and found that roasting was common, but they washed the roasted quinoa and cooked it in some kind of liquid. So I decided to the try out soaking, drying and roasting method.

I soaked the quinoa for about an hour, drained the water and dried it on the towel over night. In the morning, I roasted these seeds and here (see below) is the change in size and color of quinoa through the process. The size of the soaked and dried quinoa was big. They however came back to normal size when I roasted them.

I decided to make burfi with the powdered quinoa this time. It took less than 5 minutes. Last night, I had to make it twice on demand and these were the comments the burfi received:

"Chewy"
"tasted awesome when warm"
"nutty"
"perfectly balanced"
"the sweet is perfect" .

Gadgets:
Heavy bottom wok
Microwave safe bowl
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Blender
Spatula

Ingredients:
Makes 6 pieces

Quinoa grains - 1/2 cup
Cashew Nut - 1/4 cup
Roasted quinoa and cashew nut powder - 1/2 cup
Butter - 2 tbsp
Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup
Cardamom Pods - 4 powdered freshly
Saffron - a few strands
Edible Camphor - a very tiny pinch

Preparation:

1. Prepare the quinoa as mentioned above. Once roasted add cashew nuts and allow for it to cool. Make a powder of the two ingredients.

2. Add quinoa mix with condensed milk and butter. Mix well and microwave for 1 minute. Remove mix well and microwave for another minute. By then it must all come together into a ball.

3. Add saffron, cardamom powder and edible camphor and mix well.

4. Line a square bowl with parchment paper / foil and transfer the quinoa mix into it. Level it evenly and cut into square pieces and enjoy.

Chocolate Drizzled Strawberry Banana On Skewers: My Take On The Godiva's Creations

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:53:00 +0000

If you happen to go by any Godiva chocolate store around Valentines day, you will know what I am talking about. Strawberry and banana arranged on skewers and covered in drizzled chocolate: Absolutely elegant and divine.I would have not noticed them myself, if it was not for my pursuit in finding something special for my nieces 16th birthday. I had a cute box of chocolate in my hand but my eyes kept wandering towards the strawberry banana skewers near the checkout counter. The high school girl behind the counter was waiting for me to make my decision with a knowing smile. She said "I would go with the skewers" when I told her it was for a sweet sixteen gift. So, I chose the skewer.

My daughter thought it was the coolest thing that she saw and when I went back to the store, they told me they don't have them anymore. I think some of these things are seasonal and so I decided to make them for her. This was the first time I had a tough time making something because, my daughter and I ate most of the fruit and chocolate before it went on the skewer. Super easy to make and a lot of fun for both adults and kids. A perfect think to place on your dessert table and allow people to make their own skewers.

Gadgets:

Squeeze bottle
Microwave Safe Bowl
Measuring Cup and Spoon
Cutting Board
Knife
Bamboo Skewers
Spoon
2 bowls of even height
Parchment paper

Ingredients:

Strawberry - 12 ( plus extra to much while slicing)
Banana - 2
Dark Chocolate ( 75% Cocoa) - 1 cup finely chopped ( it depends on how much chocolate you like to have on your skewers. Chocolate chip can also be used.)
Butter - 2 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Clean and cut the banana and strawberries breath wise into 1/4 - 1/2 inch disc.

2. Add chocolate and butter to a bowl and microwave to a minute until the chocolate starts to melt. ( Note: Please check the power levels in your microwave. It might vary depending on it)

3. Remove the chocolate from the microwave and mix well to make a smooth and shinny sauce. Allow to cool for a few seconds and transfer into the squeeze bottle. (Note: If you do not have a squeeze bottle use a ziploc bag or a parchment paper. Make a cone and cup of the tip making a tiny hole. That would work too)

4. Start arranging the fruit in the skewer. Always start with the strawberry with its stock and leaves. Then add bananas and strawberry as per your wish. I added 2 strawberry slices initially and then added a banana strawberry slices alternatively.

5. Roll out some parchment paper on your work surface and place 2 bowls of equal height about 9 inches apart. This helps to hold the skewers.

7. Using the squeeze bottle as swiftly as you can drizzle the chocolate going from bottom to top all over the skewers. Turn the skewer over and do the same on the other side.

8. Transfer the bowls to the fridge and place the skewers there and allow for them to set. It takes about 20 minutes. Again it all depends on the amount of chocolate drizzled.

9. You will have a lot of chocolate drippings on the parchment paper. Ask you little ones to make beautiful chocolate faces like mine did. She called her master piece "The Chocolate Faces. For those of you who think its wasting chocolate, allow the painting to dry and using the knife scrape out the chocolate and pop it into your mouth.

"The Chocolate Faces"

My Entry to:

Avil Vadai/ Beaten Rice Vadai/ Poha Vada In 10 Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:08:00 +0000

The weekend went by so fast. As they say, when you are having too much fun you don't know the time slip by you. This weekend, we invited our families to celebrate new years. I made ven pongal, gothsu and curd rice. Since it was a celebration, we decided to make a sweet and vadai to go along with the meal. Because we did not have a lot of time before everyone arrived, I was looking for a simple, fast and easy recipe.I was reminded of the conversation I had with my mother-in-law regarding avil vadai and decided to give it a try. It scored big among all kids and adults and I had to go back into the kitchen to make another batch on demand. I am sure you can make variations of this vadai and add all ingredients used in masal vadai and it would taste awesome.I was told that apart from using it as a snack, it can be made as prasadham for Krishna or during navaratri celebrations.

Gadgets:

Frying Wok

Strainer

Colander

Paper Towel

Bowl

Measuring Cup and Spoon
Parchment Paper

Ingredients:

Makes 16 Vadai's

Oil - 2 cup

Avil/ Poha (Thick variety) - 2 cups

Water -1 cup to soak the Avil

Rice Flour - 3 tbsp

Asafoetida Powder - 1/8th tsp

Green Chillies - 1 thinly sliced ( add more for extra spice)

Curry Leaves - a few chopped

Cilantro - 3 tbsp chopped
Ginger - 2 tsp grated

Salt

Sour Cream - 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup water mixed or Yogurt - 3/4 cup ( personally, I like sour cream )

Preparation:

1. Soak the avil in water for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes heat the oil on medium high.

2. Add the soaked avil into the bowl and using your hands blend and squish the avil to make a wet mix.

3. Add the salt, rice flour, asafetida, curry leaves, cilantro, green chillies, grated and give it a good mix.

4. Add sour cream/ yogurt and make into a dough, you must be able to make vadai's with it.

5. Roll out the dough into 16 equal balls and place them on the parchment paper. You can also skip this step and start frying.

6. Make vadai's and place them back on the parchment.

7. Fry the vadai until golden brown on both sides.

8.Serve them hot with any chutney of your choice.

Kadala Paruppu Payasam For Tamil New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:45:00 +0000

Happy New Year !!

Iniya Tamil Puthandu Naal Vaazhthukkal!!!
Happy Vishu!!!

Tamil new year celebrations in India was always fun. The elai sApAddu was worth every effort we put into preparing the meal. Apart from the food the television shows were fun to watch after a heavy meal. Though I am away from India, I always feel nostalgic about the new years day. This year on request, I made kadala paruppu payasam and vadai. Had an awesome time preparing and enjoying it with my family. Here is the kadala paruppu payasam recipe we enjoyed today.

Gadgets:

Pressure Cooker
Spatula
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Stainless Steel Bowl
Heavy Bottom Pans
Filter/Colander

Ingredients:

Channa Dal / Kadala Paruppu - 1/4 cup
Jaggery - 1 Cups
Water - 1/4 cup to melt the jaggery plus 1 cup hot water to soak the channa dal
Milk- 2 cups
Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Coconut Grated- 1 tbsp
Cardamom Pods - 6
Ghee - 2 tsp
Cashew Nuts - 10
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Saffron - a few strands

Preparation:

1. Wash the channa dal in water and soak it in hot water for 20 minutes.

2. Drain and pressure cook the channa dal along with the coconut milk on high to 1 whistle and then low to medium low unto 3 whistles. (about 15 minutes)Note: By this time the channa dal must be cooked well and become soft. Press a channa dal between your fore finger and thumb. It must easily disintegrate.

3. Dissolve the jaggery in water and strain it to remove the sediments.

4. Add milk cooked channa dal to the jaggery and cook it for 5 minutes.

5. Heat the seasoning wok with ghee, add cashew nuts, raisins and toast them and add to the payasam. Season with cardamon powder and saffron.

Quinoa Ladoo / Quinoa Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:53:00 +0000

Quinoa is very popular these days. More people are consuming quinoa because its a very healthy seed. Yes, a seed and not a grain. I love quinoa and cook it often. Yesterday at Costco, I saw a book titled Quinoa giving you all sorts of recipes with Quinoa. Inspired by that book I wanted to make an Indian dessert. This morning, I wanted to try making ladoo's with quinoa. Making ladoo is simple if we know how to work with the ingredients. When it comes to quinoa, I was wondering if I need to roast the whole quinoa and then powder or do the opposite. I did both, and found for this recipe it is best to powder the quinoa and then roast it in ghee to get the nutty flavor of quinoa and do away with the bitter after taste. In fact, it was hard to tell that it was a quinoa ladoo. To me it tasted like a cross between rava (cream of wheat) and whole wheat ladoo. Super easy to make and gets done in minutes.

Note: I recently, found out that ladoo's were considered a cookie.

Gadgets:

Blender
Heavy Bottom Wok
Wooden Spatula
Plate
Measurings Cups and Spoons

Ingredients:

Makes 5 ladoo
Note: I was notified by my sister and fellow bloggers that quinoa as a seed needs to be soaked in water and then cleaned and dried before making into powder like we do with any other grain. So please do add that step into making of the flour.

Quinoa Seeds - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom Pods - 3
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Milk / Water - 1 tsp optional
Cashew Nuts - 6
Raisin - 2 tbsp
Saffron ( optional)- a few strings

Preparation:

1. Blend the quinoa to powder ( not too fine).

2. Heat the heavy bottom wok with 2 tbsp. Add cashew nuts and raisins and allow for the nuts to turn golden and raisins to plump up.

3. Add the quinoa powder and start roasting/ toasting it, until all the raw smell leaves the mix.

4. Add sugar and cardamom and mix well. Remove from heat allow to cool so that you can work with it.

5. Add the remaining ghee and water or milk and bring it all together into a ball. Volia the quinoa ladoo/ cookie is ready.

Garbanzo Beans: Make Your Own For Chole In 20 Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:44:00 +0000

I know you must be thinking why would anyone want to make garbanzo beans when you can buy them at the store. You can grab a can or buy beans and cook them. Well, that is what my husband asked me. I started to give reasons: firstly, maybe you can make chole in a jiffy without having the beans at home. Secondly, it might be economical to make the beans with a cup of besan flour. Thirdly, just for fun to think outside the box and experiment with food. He was not convinced with my answers. I still decided to make chole and test out the recipe that Vanaja Athai gave me when I last visited India. She learnt that I blogged and pulled me over to the side and told me in her soft voice that she often makes channa for chole and asked me to try out this recipe. Today, I decided to test it out. The preparation was very simple, straight forward and can get the kids involved in making the channa balls. Now,was it worth all the effort? The opinions were mixed. My daughter and I thought it was pretty good and it tasted better the next day, but not a perfect substitute. My husband on the other hand said he would rather have the beans in the chole. But either way, I had fun making it and documenting it here. My entry to Vardhini's events: "Healthy Diet - Vegetarian Side Dishes" and Love Lock Series - Legumes Event .

Gadgets:

Bowl
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Saucepan
Knife or dough scraper
Cutting Board
Spatula

Ingredients:

Besan Flour - 1 cup
Water - Enough to make a dough ( not sticky) Plus extra for boiling ( 2 cups)
Oil - 2 Tbsp

Note: I just made the basic recipe, maybe if we add salt and spice to it, it might taste even better.

Preparation:

1. Place a saucepan on heat with 3 cups of water in it and allow for it to come to a rolling boil.

2. In a bowl add besan and water and make a dough.

3. Rub your hands with some oil and roll out the dough into thick ropes.

4. Cut the ropes evenly and make small balls to resemble garbanzo bean.

5. Add the besan balls to the boiling water and boil for a few minutes until the mustard color of the beasan turns to pail yellow. ( About 4-5 Minutes).

6. Drain the water and add the cooked besan balls to the any basic chole sauce. Pressure cook it to 3 whistles on medium heat.
http://sweetkaramkapi.blogspot.com/2012/02/love-lock-series-global-event.html

Swiss Chard With Roasted Besan/ Swiss Chard With Kadala Mavu Paruppu Usili In 20 Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:30:00 +0000

Making mor kozhambu (vegetables in yogurt sauce) is really simple and gets done super fast, but when it comes to making paruppu usili, it is time consuming. The lentils have to be soaked, blended into a course paste, steamed and them cooked with the veggies. I love the crunch and texture that results at the end of this process. Very often we need to plan ahead if paruppu usili has to be made for lunch or dinner. But,when we are rushed for time this recipe comes handy. It is super easy and can be accepted as a close substitute. I made this for lunch and was very thrilled with the outcome that I wanted to blog about it. The recipe yields about 1 1/2 cups of the paruppu mix. My entry to "Healthy Diet - Vegetarian Side Dishes" hosted by Vardhini

Enclosure Links

Gadgets:

Heavy Bottom Wok
Saute Pan
Spatula
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Bowl
Whisk

Ingredients:
Serves 4
Besan/ Chickpea Flour - 1 cup
Sambar Powder - 1 tsp
Salt
Water - 1/2 cup
Oil - 3 tbsp plus 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Udad Dal - 3 tsp
Asafoetida Powder - 1/8 tsp
Curry Leaves - a few
Swiss Chard - 2 bundles
Dry Red Cillies - 1
Note: The swiss chard can be substituted with any vegetable used for paruppu usili.

Preparation:

1. Mix besan, sambar powder, salt in a bowl. Add the water and and mix well. You will get a sticky dough.

2. Heat the wok and add 3 tbsp of oil. Add asafetida, mustard seeds and udad dal. When the dal turns golden add the besan dough mix.Try to smear the dough thinly and evenly in the wok and mix them until all the wetness goes away and the dough starts to form small round balls. Remove from heat.

3. Heat the sauté pan with 1 tsp of oil. Add dry chillies, swiss chard and salt. Mix well and allow the swiss chard to get cooked. In a few minutes the swiss chard will be cooked. Add the besan mix to the swiss chard and give it a toss. Serve it with mor kozhambu.

http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/01/healthy-diet-event-host-line-up.html

Cottage Cheese, Saffron & Almond Ice Cream For Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Srimathi) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:33:00 +0000

Spring time is so beautiful and colorful. Everywhere we go flowers of all shades and colors lifts our spirits and make us smile. The hills and the grass is green where ever your eyes can look. It is the best time to go for nature walks, visit the zoo or gardens and be one with nature. This week we spent a lot of time out doors. Here are some of the things we were able to capture through our camera. The coolest was the 100 year old turtle at the zoo enjoying red jello eggs and getting ready for the egg hunt. Happy Easter!

Here is the ice cream I prepared for dessert for my family. It was quick and easy and was ready by the time we cleared the table. My husband loved it and said that it was worth blogging.

Gadgets:

Bowl

Whisk

Ice Cream Maker

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Ingredients:

Serves 4

Milk ( 2%) - 1 cup

Low Fat Cottage Cheese or Fresh Paneer - 1/2 cup

Condensed Milk - 1/3 cup

Saffron - a tiny pinch

Toasted Sliced Almonds - 1/4 cup

Preparation:

1. Mix the condensed milk, milk and cottage cheese well with a whisk. Add saffron and almonds and give it a mix.

2. Pour this mixture into the ice-cream maker with the attached paddle. In less than 10 minutes your ice cream will be ready. Enjoy!